THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 

PRESENTED  BY 

PROF.  CHARLES  A.  KOFOID  AND 
MRS.  PRUDENCE  W.  KOFOID 


THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 


SOME  OF  NATURE'S  SCAVENGERS. 


(See  Chap.  XW. 


THE 


WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM 

A  Gossip  about  some  of  its  Contents 


BY 

SELINA     GAVE. 


"  I  regarded  myself  as  one  of  those  vile  things  that  Nature  designed 
should  be  thrown  by  into  her  lumber  room,  there  to  perish  in  obscurity." 

Vicar  of  Wakefield. 

"  Old  decays  but  foster  new  creations  ; 
Bones  and  ashes  feed  the  golden  corn." 

Charles  Kingsley. 


itf)  JFiftB=seben  Ellustrations. 


CASSELL    &    COMPANY,    LIMITED: 

LONDON,    PARIS,    NEW    YORK  &   MELBOURNE. 

1885. 
[ALL  RIGHTS  RESERVED.] 


Of 


PREFACE. 


THE  object  of  this  volume  is  to  give,  in  popular  form,  an 
account  of  some  of  the  many  ways  in  which  refuse  is  made 
and  disposed  of,  first  and  chiefly  by  Nature,  and  secondly 
by  Man. 

The  World's  Lumber  Room,  comprising  the  three  great 
departments  of  Earth,  Air,  and  Water,  is  in  fact  co-extensive 
with  the  World  itself,  and,  so  far  from  being  the  sort  of  place 
which  the  worthy  Vicar's  son  seems  to  have  pictured  to 
himself,  is  rather  a  workshop  or  laboratory,  where  nothing 
is  left  to  "  perish,"  in  his  sense  of  the  word,  but  the  old 
becomes  new,  and  the  vile  and  refuse,  instead  of  being 
"thrown  by  "  in  their  vileness,  are  taken  in  hand  and  turned 
to  good  account. 

Considering  the  popular  character  of  the  volume,  it  was 
thought  undesirable  to  cumber  the  pages  with  references, 
but  the  following  are  the  works  which  have  been  chiefly 
consulted — "  Elements  of  Chemical  and  Physical  Geology," 
by  Gustav  Bischof;  Darwin's  "Journal  of  Researches," 
"Coral  Reefs,"  and  "Vegetable  Mould  and  Earthworms;" 
J.  D.  Dana's  "Coral  Reefs  and  Islands;"  Sir  C.  W. 
Thomson's  "Voyage  of  the  Challenger-,"  H.  N.  Moseley's 


viii  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

"Notes  of  a  Naturalist  on  the  Challenger;"  Maury's 
"Physical  Geography  of  the  Sea;"  Prof.  Nordenskj old's 
"  Voyages ; "  Huxley's  "  Physiography  of  the  Thames 
Valley;"  Belt's  "Naturalist  in  Nicaragua;"  Bates's 
"Naturalist  on  the  Amazons;"  A.  R.  Wallace's  "Austral- 
asia;" Prof.  Tyndall's  "Fragments  of  Science;"  S.  W. 
Johnson's  "How  Plants  Grow,"  and  "  How  Plants  Feed;" 
Miss  E.  F.  Staveley's  "British  Insects;"  J.  O.  Westwood's % 
"Modern  Classification  of  Insects;"  Wilson's  "American 
Ornithology ; "  Lord  Dunraven's  "  Great  Divide  ;  "  Brach- 
vogel's  "Mammoth  Springs;"  P.  L.  Simmond's  "Waste 
Products ; "  and  various  articles  in  "  Science  for  All," 
"Journal  of  Science,"  "American  Journal  of  Science," 
"Quarterly  Journal  of  the  Geological  Society,"  and  "Gar- 
tenlaube,"  &c.,  &c. 


CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  PACK 

I.— DUST  Ho ! i 

II. — DUST-MAKERS—FROST,  HEAT,  AIR,  AND  WATER    .  24 

III. — DUST-MAKERS — WIND,  WAVES,  RAIN  37 
IV.— DUST-MAKERS     AND     DUST-CARRIERS  —  RUNNING 

WATER 48 

V.— DUST-MAKERS  AND  DUST-CARRIERS — GLACIERS  AND 

ICEBERGS 63 

VI. — DUST-MAKERS — EARTHQUAKES  AND  VOLCANOES      .  77 

VII.— DUST-MAKERS — VEGETABLES  AND  ANIMALS      .        .  91 
VIII. — WHAT   BECOMES   OF   THE    "DUST" — TOWNS   AND 

CITIES 105 

IX. — WHAT  BECOMES  OF  THE  "DUST" — CORAL  ISLANDS, 

ETC 124 

X. — WHAT  BECOMES  OF  THE  "DUST" — FLINT,   SALT, 

ETC. 147 

XI. — VEGETABLE  SCAVENGERS 164 

XII. — VEGETABLE  REFUSE 180 

XIII. —ANIMAL  SCAVENGERS— TERMITES,  ETC.  .       .  195 


x  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

CHAl'TER  PAGE 

XIV. — ANIMAL  SCAVENGERS — ANTS,  FLIES,  AND  BEETLES  206 
XV. — ANIMAL   SCAVENGERS— CRUSTACEANS,   BIRDS,  AND 

MAMMALS     ........  227 

XVI. — ANIMAL  REMAINS  AND  ANCIENT  DUST-HEAPS        .  251 

XVII. — HOUSEHOLD  REFUSE 267 

XVIII. — MISCELLANEOUS  REFUSE 292 

INDEX 311 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


PAGE 

Some  of  Nature's  Scavengers       ......        Frontispiece 

Cosmic  Dust         ...........         6 

Microscopic  Section  of  Meteoric  Stone 7 

Organic  Matter  found  after  the  Evaporation  of  Snow  ....         8 
Vegetation  in  a  Drop  of  Evaporated  Snow  ......         9 

Diatoms »        ....       14 

Vegetable  De"bris  in  Snow    .........       15 

Vegetable  Debris  found  in  Snow  .         . 16 

Bacteria        ............       18 

Rock  Formation,  Giant's  Causeway,  Ireland 31 

Section  of  Cornish  Granite,  showing  Felspar,  etc 34 

Sand  Glacier  overwhelming  a  Garden  in  Elbow  Bay,  Bermudas  .         .       38 
Block  of  Plum-pudding  Stone       ........       47 

The  Cataract  Cafion,  Colorado    .".......       52 

Snow  Crystals       ...........       65 

The  Mer  de  Glace,  Switzerland 67 

Sheep  Rocks 71 

Diagram  of  the  "Inlands  Ice,"  Greenland,  extending  into  the  Sea, 
and  ending  in  a  Steep  Fall  from  100  to  200  feet  high,  from  which 

Icebergs  are  Breaking  off 73 

Broken-up  Bergs 75 

Mammoth  Hot  Springs  on  Gardiner's  River,  Wyoming       .         .         .90 
Young  Turnip  Plant  Nine  Days  from  date  of  Sowing,  showing  how 
the  Root-hairs  are  closely  covered  with  firmly-adhering  Particles 

of  Earth 95 

Pholas  in  a  Shelter  hollowed  by  it  in  a  Block  of  Gneiss        .         .         .     104 

Slice  of  Shale,  seen  under  the  Microscope .115 

Slice  of  Slate,  seen  under  the  Microscope 116 

Bad  Lands,  near  Fort  Bridger,  in  the  United  States    .         .         .         .119 

The  Giant  Oyster  from  Singapore        .         .         .         .         .         .         .128 

One  of  the  Astrasa  Corals  (Faria  pallida]    .         .  .         .         .     131 

Ground  Plan  of  Keeling  Atoll      .        .         .         ...         .         .         .     135 


xii  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

I- AGE 

Foraminiferal  Shells .         .139 

Nummulitic  Rock,  showing  several  Species  of  Foraminifera          .         .     141 
Sponge  Spicules  .         .         .         .         .         .         .         .        .         .         .149 

Sponges  :  Venus' s  Flower-Basket  ;  Glass- Rope  Sponge      .         .        .151 

Common  Rotifer 152 

Skeleton  of  Radiolarian 153 

Noctiluca  Miliaris 156 

Pteropod  or  Wing-footed  Mollusk 158 

Diagram  of  Coal-seam  as  seen  in  the  Face  of  the  Working  of  a  Coal- 

Mine 184 

Thin  Slice  of  Shale  from  Kettle  Point,  Lake  Huron    .        .        .         .188 

Animal  Remains  in  Amber 193 

Labourer  Termite 196 

The  Ship  Worm  ( Teredo  navalis]        .......     200 

The  Wood- Leopard  Moth 204 

Worker  Wood-Ant 213 

Burying  Beetles    ...........     216 

Skin-Eaters  :..........     220 

The  Devil's  Coach-horse      .        .        .    •    .        .         .        .        .        .     221 

The  Sacred  Scarabaeus         .........     223 

The  Clothes  Moth .225 

The  Common  Brown  Shrimp       ........     229 

The  Great  Black-backed  Gull 233 

Street  Dogs  of  Constantinople 246 

Jackals 248 

Kitchen-Middeners  and  their  Dwellings 261 

Swiss  Lake- Village  of  the  Bronze  Age 264 

Iron  "  Safety- Pin  "  found  in  Lake  Neuchatel 266 

Petticoat  Lane .276 

The  Halles  Centrales,  Paris 291 


S\ 


THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 


CHAPTER    I. 

DUST    HO  ! 

The  Dustman's  Cart— Different  Ways  of  looking  at  its  Contents  —Dust  in 
our  Houses— What  it  is  and  Where  it  Comes  From— Dust  in  Air  and 
Water— Volcanic  Dust— Meteoric  Dust— Floating  Dust— A  World 
without  Dust. 

THE  dustman's  cart !  Probably  ninety-nine  persons 
out  of  every  hundred,  if  questioned  as  to  its 
contents,  would  declare  off-hand  that  it  held  nothing  but 
rubbish — rags,  bones,  bits  of  glass  and  crockery,  oyster- 
shells,  paper,  cabbage-stalks,  ashes,  broken  things,  and  what 
was  of  no  use  to  any  one. 

But  the  hundredth  would  look  at  it  with  different  eyes, 
and  give  a  different  answer. 

"  It  is  rubbish  to  you,"  he  might  say,  "  because  it  is 
'  matter  out  of  place '  :  but  only  follow  it  to  the  dust  con- 
tractor's yard,  and  see  how  many  people  get  their  living 
out  of  this  rubbish.  A  good-sized  heap  of  dust  has  been 
known  to  be  worth  ^£4,000  or  even  ^"5,000." 

And  if  he  were  a  poet  or  a  scientist,  he  might  go  on 
to  assure  you  that  the  unsavoury-looking  cart  was  "brimful 
of  possibilities,  more    wonderful    than    are  dreamt  of  in 
fairy  land." 
B 


2  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

He  might  look  at  "bones  and  ashes"  and  tell  you 
that  he  saw  "  golden  corn ; "  at  old  rags,  and  say,  "  from 
cast-off  clothes  come  bitter  beer  and  early  cauliflowers." 

In  fact,  he  might  go  through  the  whole  list  and  prove 
to  you  that,  so  far  from  it  all  being  rubbish,  none  of  it  is 
rubbish,  when  it  gets  into  its  right  place,  and  that  every 
single  item  has  a  more  or  less  wonderful  future  before  it ; 
for,  where  man's  ingenuity  fails,  Nature  comes  to  the  rescue, 
and  she  is  intolerant  of  all  waste. 

Then  again,  if  archaeologically  inclined,  he  might  look 
at  the  dust  and  think  of  the  ancient  dust-heaps  discovered 
or  disinterred  in  various  parts  of  the  world,  which  tell  in 
such  plain  language  of  the  habits  and  manner  of  life 
of  races  long  since  passed  away  from  the  earth,  and  he 
might  speculate  upon  the  possibility  of  one  of  these  modern 
dust-heaps  being  buried  and  preserved  to  become  an  in- 
teresting historical  record,  telling  future  generations  what 
the  ancient  Englishman  lived  upon,  what  fruits  and  vege- 
tables he  cultivated,  and  what  he  imported,  what  fabrics 
he  wore,  what  perfection  he  had  attained  in  the  arts  of 
pottery  and  of  glass-  and  paper-making,  what  an  extensive 
trade  he  must  have  had  with  all  parts  of  the  world,  and 
many  other  things  besides  too  numerous  to  mention. 

To  the  dustman  everything  which  finds  its  way  into  his 
cart,  whether  it  be  ashes,  old  shoes,  or  an  occasional  silver 
spoon — all  comes  under  the  head  of  "  dust."  But,  leaving 
these  for  the  present,  we  will  limit  our  inquiries  to  the 
fine  powdery  matter,  commonly  called  dust,  which  is  by 
no  means  the  insignificant,  unimportant  trifle  it  at  first 
sight  appears.  For  dust  has  caused  lawsuits,  dust  has 


DUST  IN  OUR  HOUSES.  3 

caused  shipwrecks,  and  dust  has  caused,  and  still  causes, 
death. 

More  than  this,  without  dust  we  should  probably  have 
no  fogs,  no  clouds,  and  no  rain,  there  would  be  no  light, 
no  colour  in  the  ocean ;  and  finally,  without  dust,  the  sun's 
rays  would  be  invisible  to  us. 

What  then  is  this  dust,  and  where  does  it  come  from  ? 

Inside  our  houses  it  consists  chiefly  of  the  minute 
particles  rubbed  off  carpets,  furniture,  and  the  like,  by  the 
ordinary  wear  and  tear  of  daily  life.  Carpets  and  clothes 
are  constantly  being  worn  threadbare  by  perpetual  rubbing ; 
and  every  time  we  cut  the  leaves  of  a  book,  wind  wool, 
use  a  sewing-machine,  scratch  the  legs  of  table  or  chair, 
every  time,  in  fact,  that  we  walk  across  the  room,  we  help 
to  make  the  dust  which  the  housemaid  sweeps  up  in  the 
morning. 

But  it  is  not  only  the  things  around  us  which  are  being 
thus  continually  rubbed  and  worn.  Something  of  the 
same  sort  happens  to  ourselves.  We  are  perpetually 
changing  our  skins,  not  indeed  as  the  lizard  does,  but 
piecemeal ;  and,  as  the  little  loose  particles  are  rubbed  off, 
they,  too,  help  to  make  the  dust  which  collects  in  our 
houses,  and  needs  to  be  constantly  removed,  if  our  bodies 
are  to  be  kept  in  a  healthy  state. 

For  the  greater  part  of  this  dust  is  organic ;  it  has  at 
one  time  or  other  formed  part  ot  some  organised  living 
thing,  animal  or  vegetable,  and,  as  such,  it  will  burn 
quickly  if  we  set  fire  to  it,  or  slowly  if  we  spread  it  upon 
the  fields,  and  leave  it,  as  we  say,  "to  decay."*  It 

*  See  Chap.  xii. 


4  THE  WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

cannot  therefore  be  wholesome  to  have  it  about  us,  as, 
though  the  exact  nature  of  the  germs  which  spread  scarlet 
fever  and  other  diseases  may  not  be  determined,  one  thing 
is  certain,  namely,  that  they  flourish  most  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  dirt  ajid  decaying  matter  of  all  kinds. 

The  lighter  part  of  this  dust  floats  in  the  air,  as  we 
see  whenever  a  sunbeam  shines  into  the  room  and  reveals 
it  to  us;  the  heavier  settles  on  the  floor  and  furniture, 
where,  in  towns  at  least,  it  is  so  blackened  by  dust  of 
another  kind — the  smoke  and  soot  arising  from  the  imper- 
fect combustion  of  fuel — that  it  is  not  easy  to  tell  what  its 
original  colours  were. 

Still,  the  examination  of  any  bit  of  "  flue  "  which  has 
collected  behind  some  piece  of  furniture  too  heavy  to  be 
constantly  moved,  will  show  us  that  it  consists  in  the 
main  of  fine  hairs  and  particles  of  wool,  worsted,  cotton, 
&c.,  which  have  been  worn  off  by  the  housemaid's"  broom 
and  our  own  movements,  and  felted  together  by  pressure, 
some  being  large  enough  to  show  their  origin  plainly, 
while  others  are  mere  dust,  scarcely  distinguishable  as 
hairs  at  all  by  the  naked  eye. 

But  besides  the  dust  made  inside  the  house,  some  of 
that  made  outside  also  finds  its  way  in,  and  in  dry,  windy 
weather  covers  the  furniture  with  a  very  unpleasant  gritty 
film ;  for  it  is  so  exceedingly  fine  that,  like  very  fine  snow, 
it  will  make  its  way  through  the  smallest  cracks  and 
crevices,  and  is  not  to  be  kept  out  by  closed  windows. 

In  towns,  much  of  this  dust  also  is  made  by  rubbing 
and  friction.  The  wear  and  tear  occasioned  by  the  in- 
cessant passing  of  feet  and  the  wheels  of  heavily-loaded 


DUST  MADE  BY  FRICTION.  5 

vehicles  are  evident  enough ;  for  the  streets  are  constantly 
needing  to  be  repaired. 

On  the  large  flagstones  in  the  main  road  between  the 
West  India  Docks  and  Whitechapel,  for  instance,  where  the 
traffic  is,  of  course,  exceptionally  heavy  and  unceasing,  three 
inches  of  hard  granite  were  worn  away  in  the  course  of 
forty  years;  and  the  roads  of  Funchal,  in  the  island  of 
Madeira,  which  run  up  steep  slopes  and  are  paved  with 
basalt,  have  become  polished  and  slippery  from  constant 
use.* 

Every  one  has  noticed,  too,  how  very  dusty  railway- 
carriages  are  apt  to  be;  and  though  some  of  the 
dust  in  them  consists  of  particles  rubbed  from  the  cushions 
and  curtains,  and  some  of  sand  from  the  road,  yet  a  large 
proportion  will  adhere  to  a  magnet  and  prove  to  be 
minute  fragments  of  iron  and  steel  worn  from  the  wheels 
and  rails. 

But  the  world's  dust  is  not  made  solely  by  man.  Nature, 
too,  is  for  ever  making  it  in  a  variety  of  ways  ;  and  as  dust 
of  all  kinds  finds  its  way  into  our  houses,  it  is  not  too  much 
to  say  that,  before  we  can  account  satisfactorily  for  all  the 
contents  of  the  dustman's  cart,  we  must  know  something  of 
Nature's  labourers  and  their  methods  of  working.  The 
oyster-shells  are,  ot  course,  indebted  to  her  dust-makers 
and  dust-carriers  for  the  materials  of  which  they  are  made, 
and  the  same  frost  and  heat  which  have  broken  countless 

*  Mr.  Bates,  in  his  "  Naturalist  on  the  Amazons,1'  mentions  that 
those  mother  turtles  which  had  laid  eggs  the  previous  year  were  easily 
known  by  the  fact  that  the  horny  skin  of  their  breast-plates  was  worn  by 
their  having  crawled  over  the  sand. 


6  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

glasses  are  likewise  busy  with  the  rocks  ;  but,  besides  these 
very  obvious  items,  the  fine  gunpowder-like  dust,  which  is 
sifted  out  from  the  other  refuse,  must  contain  specimens  of 
Nature's  dust  in  most,  if  not  all,  of  its  varieties. 

Night  and  day,  summer  and  winter,  her  great  army  is 
ever  at  work,  cutting,  carving,  grinding,  loosening,  polishing, 


Fig.  i.— COSMIC  DUST. 

hammering  the  rocks,  and  making  an  impression  even  on 
the  very  hardest  of  them.  One  result  of  all  this  wear 
and  tear  is  the  soil  which  almost  everywhere  covers  the 
earth's  crust,  sometimes  to  the  depth  only  of  an  inch  or 
two,  sometimes  even  less,  while  sometimes  again  it  attains 
a  thickness  of  several  feet.  At  the  utmost,  however,  its 
depth  may  be  measured  by  feet,  and  at  its  greatest  thick- 


DUST  IN  THE  AIR.  7 

ness  it  is  to  the  earth  only  as  the  thin  film  of  dust  which 
settles  on  our  furniture. 

But  then,  again,  some  of  the  mineral-dust  which  finds 
its  way  into  our  streets,  and  thence  into  our  houses,  has 
been  made  altogether  outside  the  world,  and  has  floated 


Fig.  2. — MICROSCOPIC  SECTION  OF  METEORIC  STONE. 

down  through  the  air  from  regions  of  which  we  know 
nothing  more  than  the  little  we  can  learn  from  this  dust 
and  by  means  of  the  telescope. 

Cosmic  or  meteoric  dust  (Fig.  i)  is  of  the  same  nature  as 
those  larger  fragments  of  matter  which,  when  they  take  fire  on 
coming  into  contact  with  the  earth's  atmosphere,  and  blaze 
for  a  few  instants  in  the  sky,  we  call  "shooting"  or  "  falling" 
stars.  The  number  of  these  meteorites  (Fig.  2)  is  simply  in- 
conceivable, since  they  form,  we  are  told,  a  ring  one  million 


8  2 HE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

miles  long  and  one  million  deep,  and  a  celebrated  American 
astronomer  calculates  that  on  an  average  there  fall  to  the 
earth  every  day  7,500,000  of  a  size  to  be  seen  by  the 
naked  eye,  and  400,000,000  which  might  be  seen  through 


Fig.  3. — ORGANIC  MATTER  FOUND  AFTER  THE  EVAPORATION  OF  SNOW 

(Magnified 500  times.) 

a  telescope  of  moderate  power,  and  that,  with  the  fine  dust 
which  accompanies  them,  the  daily  weight  falling  upon 
the  earth  does  not  come  short  of  a  ton.* 

But  the  observations  of  Professor  Nordenskjdld  lead 
him  to  go  much  farther  even  than  this.  Where  the  dust 
falls  upon  roads  or  fields  there  is  of  course  some  difficulty 

*  Single  meteorites  sometimes  weigh  several  tons. 


METEORIC  DUST.  9 

in  distinguishing  it  from  dust  of  earthly  origin ;  but  where 
it  falls  upon  fields  of  eternal  snow  and  ice  (Figs.  3  and  4), 
far  removed  from  any  rock  or  soil  which  could  produce 
ordinary  dust,  it  is  more  easily  collected;  and,  from  his 


Fig.  4.— VEGETATION  IN  A  DROP  OF  EVAPORATED  SNOW. 

{Magnified  500  times.) 

experience  in  the  Arctic  regions,  the  Professor  is  of  opinion 
that  more  than  500,000  tons  fall  uniformly  and  steadily 
over  the  whole  globe  in  each  year. 

Observations,  since  repeated  by  the  Russian  scientists 
in  Central  Siberia,  have  yielded  similar  results,  for  the  dust 
is  found  to  be  composed  in  large  measure  of  metallic  par- 
ticles, such  as  are  characteristic  of  meteorites,  though  others 


i a  THE  WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

of  volcanic  origin  may,  no  doubt,  also  be  mingled  with 
them,  since  we  know  that  fine  volcanic  dust  may  be  trans- 
ported almost  any  distance  by  currents  of  air. 

The  ice-dust  or  "  kryokonit,"  as  it  is  proposed  to  call  it, 
is  scattered  all  over  the  northern  ice-fields,  and  though 
well  aware  that  it  cannot  be  lost  or  wasted  in  the  long  run, 
we  may  hardly,  perhaps,  be  prepared  to  find  that  it  is  at 
once  taken  in  hand  and  turned  to  account.  Kryokonit, 
the  meteoric  dust  which  has  been  formed — who  can  say  by 
what  process  ? — in  the  far-off  upper  regions,  descends  to  the 
earth  to  form  the  soil  which  nourishes  numerous  hitherto 
unknown  ice  and  snow  plants,  besides  the  "  red  snow,"  with 
whose  name  we  are  most  of  us  familiar.  This  plant,  which 
is  of  very  lowly  organisation,  makes  its  first  appearance  in 
the  summer  as  a  pink  flush  overspreading  the  snow  in 
large  patches,  sometimes  miles  in  extent,  not  only  in  the 
Polar  regions,  but  on  the  Alps  and  Pyrenees  and  the 
mountains  of  California. 

The  spores  of  the  lower  orders  of  plants  are  very  tena- 
cious of  life,  and  are  capable  of  bearing  such  extremes  of 
temperature  that  no  climate  will  destroy  them.  You  may 
even  expose  them  to  a  heat  of  100°  C.  (212°  Fahr.),  or  to 
the  lowest  degree  of  cold  obtainable  (—  100°  C.),  and  still, 
though  lying  dormant,  they  will  retain  their  vitality,  and  as 
soon  as  they  have  the  opportunity  will  grow  and  multiply. 

Though  dwelling  among  snow  and  ice,  however,  they 
need  the  summer  sun  to  waken  them  into  active  life,  and 
they  need  more  than  snow  and  ice  to  live  upon.  Like 
the  green  slime  of  our  ponds,  they  belong  to  the  order 
of  plants  called  Algct^  and  the  red  snow,  though  so  minute 


SNOW-  AND  ICE-PLANTS.  n 

as  to  look  like  nothing  but  an  assemblage  of  tiny  globules, 
even  when  seen  under  the  microscope,  is  still  found,  like 
the  plants  of  higher  orders,  to  contain  many  minerals.* 
The  outer  skin  of  the  globule  especially  yields  flint,  nor 
are  lime,  iron,  and  the  other  minerals  essential  to  plant-life, 
wanting. 

Another  alga  of  a  brownish-red  colour,  though  closely 
related  to  the  red  snow,  is  never  found  except  on  the  ice, 
where  it  grows  in  the  blackish  mud  of  the  kryokonit 
either  on  the  surface  or  at  the  bottom  of  the  deep  holes 
which,  in  the  summer,  pierce  the  ice  in  all  directions  to 
the  great  inconvenience  of  explorers. 

These  holes  are  indeed  made  by  the  alga  itself,  which 
absorbs  more  heat  than  the  surrounding  ice,  thanks  to 
its  darker  colouring,  and  thus  it  melts  and  sinks  deeper 
and  deeper,  until  it  is  beyond  the  reach  of  the  sunbeams. 
Professor  Nordenskjold  even  imagines  that  this  microscopic 
plant  may  have  had  the  chief  share  in  melting  those  vast 
fields  of  ice  which  in  a  former  age  covered  great  part  of 
Europe  and  America. 

But  the  snow-  and  ice-plants  serve  other  purposes  be- 
sides this.  By  feeding  on  the  cosmic  dust  they  convert 
it  into  food  capable  of  supporting  animal  life,  and  many 
minute  creatures,  even  in  the  Polar  regions,  are  nourished 
by  the  various,  red,  green,  and  brown  algae,  while  the  little 
black  "  glacier-flea  "  lives  almost  entirely  on  the  red  snow 
and  its  remains. 

In   addition    to   the  cosmic  dust,  the   air  is   at  times 
charged  with  volcanic  dust,  the  finer  particles  of  which, 
*  See  Chap.  vii. 


12  THE  WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

having  been  carried  up  to  great  heights,  remain  suspended 
for  weeks,  and  even  months.  After  the  great  eruptions 
of  Skaptar,  in  1783,  Iceland  was  obscured  for  months  by 
fine  dust,  which  was  carried  over  England  and  the  north 
of  Europe,  producing  fogs,  and  lurid  sunrises  and  sunsets. 

During  the  great  eruption  in  Java,  which  reached  its 
climax  at  the  end  of  August,  1883,  volcanic  matter  was 
ejected  in  enormous  quantities,  and  to  a  height  which  it 
is  impossible  to  determine.  Millions  of  tons  of  matter 
were  hurled  into  the  air,  enveloping  the  whole  district  for 
many  miles  in  utter  darkness ;  and  although  the  heavier 
particles,  of  course,  soon  fell  to  the  earth,  quantities  of 
fine  dust  were  carried  into  the  upper  regions  by  the  tre- 
mendous upward  current,  which  always  exists  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  the  equator.  To  what  height  the  air  brought 
near  to  the  equator  by  the  trade-winds  is  ordinarily  carried 
we  do  "not  know,  neither  do  we  know  certainly  what  be- 
comes of  it,  but  it  frequently  travels  at  the  rate  of  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  an  hour,  and  presuming  it  to  have 
done  so  in  this  instance,  carrying  the  volcanic  dust  with 
it,  it  would,  says  Mr.  Norman  Lockyer,  have  reached  various 
parts  of  the  world  exactly  at  the  time  when  attention  was 
first  drawn  to  the  wonderful  magnificence  and  duration  of 
the  sunset  glow,  and  to  other  unusual  appearances  in  the 
sky  during  the  autumn  and  winter  of  1883. 

These  remarkable  sunsets  and  sunrises  began  in  the 
Mauritius  on  the  28th  of  August,  and  were  at  once  believed 
to  be  caused  by  sunlight  passing  through  fine  dust ;  and 
from  that  time  for  several  months  they  were  constantly 
observed,  now  in  one  place,  now  in  another,  until  they  had 


RED  FOG  OF  THE  ATLANTIC.  13 

been  seen  almost  all  over  the  world,  having  made  their  first 
appearance  in  England  on  the  9th  of  November.  Here  they 
were  noticed,  more  or  less,  for  many  weeks ;  and  from  ob- 
servations made  at  Berlin  during  the  last  three  days  of 
November,  it  was  calculated  that  the  reflecting  matter  must 
even  then  have  been  suspended  at  a  height  of  forty  miles 
above  the  earth. 

But  the  dust  which  constitutes  the  chief  part  of  the  "  red 
fog  "  of  the  Atlantic,  the  "  sea-dust "  of  the  northern  seas, 
and  the  "  sirocco-dust "  of  South  Europe,  is  neither  cosmic 
nor  volcanic,  though  it,  too,  has  travelled  great  distances. 

Vessels,  hundreds  of  miles  from  land,  have  been  at  times 
enveloped  for  days  in  fog  consisting  of  a  brick-red  or  cin- 
namon-coloured dust,  which  covered  the  sails  and  rigging 
with  a  thick  coat,  and  rendered  the  air  so  hazy  that  no 
vessel  which  was  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  mile  off  could  be 
distinguished  even  at  mid-day.  Off  St.  Jago,  during  certain 
months  of  the  year,  a  very  fine  dust  is  almost  constantly 
falling,  which,  says  Mr.  Darwin,  roughens  and  slightly  in- 
jures astronomical  instruments,  hurts  the  eyes,  dirties  every- 
thing on  board,  and  at  times  falls  so  thickly  that  vessels 
have  been  known  to  run  ashore  owing  to  the  obscurity,  and 
are  recommended  to  avoid  the  passage  between  Cape  Verd 
and  the  Archipelago.  Considerable  quantities  continued  to 
fall  upon  the  Beagle  when  she  was  between  three  and  four 
hundred  miles  from  shore,  some  of  the  variously-coloured 
transparent  particles  being  a  thousandth  part  of  an  inch 
square,  few  larger,  and  the  greater  part  consisting  of  fine 
powder.  On  the  succeeding  days,  as  the  vessel  proceeded 
on  her  way,  the  dust  became  so  fine  that  it  could  be  col- 


THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 


lected  only  on  a  damp  sponge  ;  but  it  has  been  known  to 
fall  on  vessels  one  thousand  and  even  sixteen  hundred  miles 
from  any  land. 

From  the  direction  of  the  wind,  and  the  fact  that  the 
dust  falls  during  those  months  when  the  harmattan  raises 
clouds  of  it  high  in  the  air,   and  blows  from   the  north- 
west shores  of  Africa,  it 
was  at  first  naturally  con- 
cluded that  the  dust  was 
all    African    too.      The 
mineral    part    of  it,    no 
doubt,  may  be  so ;   but 
on    examination   it   was 
found    that    the   greater 
part  of  the  dust  was  or- 
ganic,     and      consisted 
mainly  of  those  minute, 
Fig.  5. —DIATOMS.  flint-cased  forms  of  plant- 

life  known   as   diatoms, 

which  exist  in  almost  all  water — salt,  fresh,  or  brackish 
(Fig.  5).  Further  examination  also  revealed  the  singular 
fact  that,  though  the  dust  came  directly  from  Africa,  of 
all  the  many  different  organic  forms  none  were  peculiar  to 
Africa,  and  all  but  two  belonged  to  fresh-water  families  ;  and 
it  has  since  been  proved  that  all  the  organic  portion  of  the 
dust,  whether  it  fall  at  Cape  Verd,  Malta,  Genoa.  Lyons,  or 
in  the  Tyrol,  has  come  from  the  south  side  of  the  equator, 
and  has  been  transported  from  the  banks  of  the  Orinoco  and 
Amazons. 

When,  however,  we  find  that  particles  of  mineral  matter 


DIATOMS  FROM  SOUTH  AMERICA.  15 

one-thousandth  part  of  an  inch  square  can  be  carried  three 
or  four  hundred  miles,  and  that  a  narrow  strip  of  vegetable 
substance  something  more  than  half  an  inch  long,  and  the 
twelfth  part  of  an  inch  wide,  clearly  belonging  to  some 


Fig.  6.— VEGETABLE  DEBRIS  IN  SNOW.    (Magnified  500  times.) 

tropical  tree,  has  been  carried  more  than  1,200  miles  from 
any  coast  where  it  could  have  grown,  we  wonder  less  at  the 
long  journeys  taken  by  these  minute  one-celled  plants, 
41,000,000,000  of  which  occupy  only  one  cubic  inch  of 
space,  and  weigh  but  220  grains. 

But   we   have  still  to  speak  of  that  which  may  more 
strictly  be  called  the  floating  matter  of  the  air,  that,  namely, 


1 6  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

which  is  always  present  everywhere,  and  is  revealed  to  us  in 
part,  but  only  in  part,  whenever  a  sunbeam  shines  into  the 
room. 

"  For   the  sun,"   says    Daniel    Culver  well,    "  discovers 


Fig.  7.— VEGETABLE  DEBRIS  FOUND  IN  SNOW.    (Magnified  500  times.) 

atomes,  though  they  be  invisible  by  candle-light,  and  makes 
them  dance  naked  in  his  beams." 

And  the  electric  beam  does  even  more,  for  it  shows  us 
that  instruments  which  have  been  washed,  and  even  polished, 
and  look  spotlessly  clean  in  ordinary  light,  are  simply  dirty 
when  seen  by  its  searching  light,  if  they  have  been  left  but 
an  instant  exposed  to  the  air. 


FLOATING  MATTER  OF  THE  AIR.  17 

The  greater  part  of  the  floating  matter  of  the  air  is 
organic,  for  the  heavier  mineral  dust  is  winnowed  from  it, 
and  falls  first  to  the  ground.  Even  the  organic  matter, 
light  as  it  is,  would  fall  to  the  ground  also,  if  the  air  were 
perfectly  still,  which,  of  course,  it  never  is  in  Nature. 

This  floating  dust  consists  of  ground-up  straw  and  rags,- 
smoke,  seeds,  pollen,  spores,  germs,  &c.,  which  invade  both 
air  and  water  to  such  an  extent,  that  neither,  however  pure, 
is  entirely  free  from  them  (Figs.  6  and  7). 

The  pollen  or  fine  dust  contained  in  the  anthers  of 
flowers  and  catkins  is  often  wafted  into  the  air  in  thick 
clouds  in  the  neighbourhood  of  pine-forests,  where  it  is 
known  by  the  popular  name  of  "  showers  of  sulphur." 

This  is  the  dust  with  which  the  bees  powder  their  coats 
as  they  make  their  way  in  and  out  of  the  blossoms ;  and  so 
fine  and  light  is  it  that  much  is  scattered  in  this  way,  and 
floats  away  in  the  air.  Then  there  are  the  spores  which,  in 
flowerless  plants — such  as  ferns,  lichens,  and  fungi, — take  the 
place  and  answer  the  purpose  of  seeds.  At  the  back  of  the 
common  polypody  fern  may  be  seen  a  number  of  little 
round  yellow  dots,  which  are  often  called  seeds,  though  they 
are  not  even  spores,  but  spore-cases.  Each  dot  consists  of 
fifty  spore-cases,  and  each  case  contains  thousands  of  micro- 
scopic spores,  which,  when  perfectly  ripe  and  dust-like,  are 
set  free  to  be  carried  hither  and  thither  by  the  air. 

Then  there  are  the  fungus-spores,  the  largest  of  which 
are  invisible  without  the  aid  of  a  microscope.  These,  since 
they  make  up  in  numbers  for  what  they  lack"  in  size,  are 
constantly  suspended  in  the  air  in  large  quantities,  ready  to 
take  possession  of  any  suitable  soil ;  in  proof  of  which  we 
c 


18  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  JKoo.tr. 

need  only  leave  a  basin  of  paste  in  their  way,  and  we 
shall  often  find  it  overgrown  with  "  mould  "  in  a  single 
night. 

Far  lower  again  in  the  scale  of  life  than  either  "  mould  " 
or  mildew,  are  the  various  organisms  bearing  the  general 
name  of  "  bacteria  "  (Fig.  8),  which  are  the  agents  of  all 

putrefaction   and    fer- 
\ l  '*  /  ^  /  mentation,     and     the 

,    ''    V    /      .    >    o'*3^  -  ,. 

a-    f  *^-*.  *TV.       SN      b  cause  of  many  diseases. 

xfrvAr**          -  These   swarm    in    all 

4         i«* 

c  moist    places    of    the 

earth,  and  are  wafted 
into  the  air  in  immense 
Fig.  8. — BACTERIA  :  a,  600  times  their  natural     numbers 
size  ;  b,  1,000  times  natural  size  ;  c ,  Bac- 
teriurn,  5,000  times  natural  size.  oUCh,    then,    IS   the 

floating      matter      of 

the  air,   and  we   must   now   see  how  its   absence  would 
affect  us. 

We  have  said  that  but  for  the  floating  dust  we  should 
probably  have  no  mist,  or  fog,  or  clouds. 

Steam,  or  water-gas,  is,  like  other  gases,  invisible  ;  but, 
as  it  escapes  through  the  spout  of  the  kettle  the  cooler 
air  of  the  room  makes  it  condense  into  a  cloud,  consisting 
of  numberless  minute  globules  of  water.  But  the  air  of 
the  room,  besides  being  cool,  is  also  dusty ;  and  if  the 
steam  be  received  into  a  glass  vessel  containing  only  per- 
fectly-filtered air,  no  cloud  at  all  will  be  formed,  but  the 
steam  will  condense  into  dewdrops  upon  the  glass. 

Hence,  from  repeated  experiments,  it  seems  that  when- 
ever water-gas  condenses  into  mist  or  fog,  each  globule 


No  DUST,  NO  CLOUDS  OR  FOG.  19 

forms  round  some  minute  particle  of  matter,  and  when  our 
breath  becomes  visible,  it  is  a  proof  that  the  air  we  are 
breathing  is  not  only  cold,  but  more  or  less  dusty. 

Microscopic  meteorites  are  often  found  in  the  centre 
of  hailstones,  as  if  the  ice  had  crystallised  upon  them ; 
but  the  invisible  dust  produced  by  a  gas-jet,  a  clear  fire, 
the  heating  of  the  hundredth  part  of  a  grain  of  iron,  or 
a  fragment  of  glass,  is  quite  enough  to  cause  steam  to 
condense  into  a  cloud ;  while  common  salt  burnt  in  a 
spirit-lamp  produces  intense  fog,  as  soon  as  the  steam  is 
admitted,  and  burnt  sulphur  gives  a  fog  so  dense  that  it 
is  impossible  to  see  through  a  thickness  of  even  two  inches. 

As  it  is  calculated  that  more  than  two  hundred  tons 
of  sulphur  are  burnt  daily  in  London  with  the  coal  during 
winter,  this  alone,  without  the  suspended  soot,  would 
be  enough  to  account  for  much  of  our  fog.  Happily  the 
human  furnaces  are  so  constructed  as  to  consume  their 
own  smoke,  otherwise,  since  eight  hundred  tons  of  carbon 
as  well  as  nearly  2,000,000  pints  of  water,  are  said  to  be 
discharged  daily,  from  the  lungs  of  Londoners  alone,  the 
consequences  would  be  dismal  indeed. 

Still,  even  when  we  have  got  rid  ot  our  smoke,  we 
shall  not  be  free  from  fog,  though  we  shall  see  no  more 
of  the  "pea-soup"  variety.  Fogs,  as  we  know,  prevail 
out  at  sea,  and  even  high  up  among  the  mountains,  where 
there  is  certainly  no  smoke,  though  there  is  dust ;  and 
as  long  as  the  air  is  dusty  fogs  there  will  be. 

Well,  we  should  most  of  us  be  willing  enough  to  dis 
pense  with  them  ;  some  of  us,  indeed,  would  be  more  than 
willing,  especially  the  sailor,  who  has  fog-horns  sounding 


20  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

all  round  him  as  he  goes  up  and  down  Channel,  and  often 
dares  not  close  his  eyes  for  many  days  and  nights  together, 
and  lives  in  a  state  of  constant  anxiety  as  long  as  the  fog 
lasts. 

But  if  the  air  were  quite  free  from  dust  we  should 
also  lose  the  clouds  which  make  so  large  a  part  of  the 
beauty  of  our  skies ;  the  artist  would  lose  his  mists  and 
atmospheric  effects,  and  we  should  probably  have  no  rain, 
for  when  the  moisture  became  more  than  the  air  could 
hold,  it  would  be  deposited  as  dew  upon  every  object 
with  which  it  might  come  in  contact.  Neither  is  this  all 
that  the  absence  of  dust  would  entail  upon  us. 

We  might  suppose  that  with  no  dust  in  the  air  we 
should  at  least  have  more  light;  but  while  it  is  undoubtedly 
true  that  the  sunbeams  show  us  the  motes,-  it  is  no  less 
true  also  that  the  motes  and  finer  dust  actually  show  us 
the  sunbeams,  and  that  one  is  invisible  without  the  other. 

A  beam  of  sunlight  or  electric  light  if  admitted  into 
a  chamber  of  which  the  air  is  perfectly  pure  at  once  dis- 
appears, and  is  replaced  by  pitchy  blackness,  except  where 
it  strikes  the  wall  or  some  other  object.  Balloonists  tell 
us  that  the  higher  they  ascend  the  deeper  becomes  the 
colour  of  the  sky,  until  at  the  height  of  a  few  miles  it 
looks  almost  like  a  black  canopy,  because,  though  the 
sun  is  shining  in  unclouded  splendour,  there  is  little  or 
no  dust  to  scatter  his  light.  The  space  between  the  stars — 
stellar  space  as  it  is  called — is,  accordingly,  absolute  black- 
ness, notwithstanding  the  blaze  of  light  which  passes  through 
it  and  becomes  visible  on  striking  our  dusty  atmosphere. 

This  universal  dust   is   kept   out  of  our  lungs,  where 


THE  AIR  WE  BREATHE.  21 

it  would  be  injurious,  by  the  innumerable  fine  hairs  or 
cilia  which  cover  the  air-passages,  and  which,  as  they  con- 
stantly wave  upwards,  filter  the  air  very  effectually ;  but 
when  the  strain  is  too  great  and  prolonged,  the  hairs  cease 
to  act,  the  membrane  of  the  air-passages  becomes  inflamed, 
and  bronchitis  or  asthma  follows. 

The  dust  of  coal-mines  and  that  caused  by  grinding, 
especially  steel-grinding,  and  the  polishing  of  pearl-buttons, 
marble,  &c.,  particularly  where  emery  is  used ;  also  the  dust 
in  potteries  and  china-works ;  the  organic  dust  and  fluff  of 
shoddy-  and  flax-mills ;  as  well  as  that  arising  from  the  sort- 
ing of  type,  are  all  injurious  and  some  of  them  fatal  in  their 
effects  upon  the  air-passages  and  lungs,  which  the  hairs 
are  quite  unable  to  protect.  A  seedsman  once  complained  to 
Professor  Tyndall  that  his  men  were  made  quite  ill  during 
the  busy  season  by  the  irritation  produced  by  the  dust  from 
the  seeds,  and  gladly  accepted  his  suggestion  that  they 
should  be  provided  with  respirators  made  of  cotton-wool 
tied  up  in  muslin,  which  filtered  the  air  so  perfectly  that  no 
further  complaints  were  heard. 

The  "black  lungs"  of  colliers  are  well  known,  and 
stony  dust  is  found  deposited  in  the  lungs  of  stone-masons, 
but,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  the  natural  filtering 
apparatus  is  quite  effectual,  the  particles  being  arrested  by 
the  hairs  above  mentioned  and  then  sent  back  into  the  air 
by  the  expired  breath.  The  air  which  we  breathe  out  at  the 
end  of  an  expiration  is  so  absolutely  free  from  dust,  that,  if 
breathed  across  the  track  of  an  electric  beam,  the  latter  will 
be  pierced  by  an  intensely  black  hole,  for  the  reasons 
already  given. 


22  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

So  much,  then,  for  the  dust  of  the  air ;  but  we  have  yet 
to  say  something  about  the  dust  of  water ;  and  here  again, 
though  the  amount  of  impurity  may  be  so  infinitesimal  as 
to  be  hardly  capable  of  expression  in  numbers,  and  though 
the  individual  particles  suspended  may  utterly  elude  the 
microscope,  yet  their  presence  here,  as  in  the  air.  is  re- 
vealed to  us  by  light. 

Good  drinking-water  appears  simply  dirty  in  the  electric 
beam,  and  even  that  which  has  been  filtered  through 
charcoal  is  seen  to  be  thick  with  fine  suspended  matter  ; 
but  by  far  the  greater  number  of  particles  are  not  only 
invisible  to  the  naked  eye,  but  are  beyond  the  reach  of 
the  microscope,  and  reveal  their  presence  only  by  colour. 
In  the  purest  water,  obtained,  with  extra  precautions  against 
contamination  by  the  air,  from  the  middle  of  a  block  of 
ice,  the  electric  beam  when  passed  through  it  appeared  of 
a  delicate  blue,  purer  than  that  of  the  sky,  and  therefore 
produced  by  particles  finer  than  those  suspended  in  the 
air.  All  the  evidence,  however,  points  to  the  conclusion 
that  in  perfectly  pure  water  the  last  trace  of  colour  would 
disappear,  and  the  beam  would  be  as  invisible  as  it  is  in 
perfectly  pure  air. 

The  River  Rhine  flows  into  Lake  Constance  muddy 
with  the  sediment  it  has  brought  from  the  mountains ;  but 
on  emerging  partially  filtered  at  the  other  end  it  is  of  a 
dark  but  transparent  green.  The  water  of  the  Lake  of 
Brientz  is  also  a  deep  transparent  green,  but  that  of  the 
Lake  of  Thun,  which  it  feeds,  being  more  perfectly  filtered, 
is  a  clear  blue. 

Sea-water  of  a  yellow-green    Professor   Tyndall   found 


AN  INKY  SKY  AND  SEA.  23 

to  be  thick  with  suspended  matter,  in  fact  muddy;  green 
water  was  thick  with  finer  particles ;  but  as  the  water 
became  of  a  clearer,  brighter  green  these  diminished  in 
size  and  quantity.  Water  of  a  cobalt  blue  was  much  more 
pure,  of  an  indigo  tinge  purer  still,  and  when  almost 
black,  with  but  a  trace  of  indigo,  as  is  the  case  in  the 
mid-Atlantic,  it  was  nearly  absolutely  pure. 

The  purest  natural  water,  like  the  purest  natural  air,  is 
never  free  from  some  minute  quantity  of  dust ;  if  it  were 
it  would  be  as  black  as  ink,  and,  though  reflecting  a  glimmer 
from  its  surface,  as  ink  does,  would  lose  all  the  wonderful 
play  of  light  and  colour  which  makes  so  much  of  its 
charm. 

An  inky  sky,  an  inky  sea,  general  inkiness,  in  fact,  ex- 
cept in  the  direct  track  of  the  sun's  rays — these,  it  seems, 
are  some  of  the  results  which  would  follow  ii  we  could 
succee.d  in  banishing  all  dust  from  the  air  and  from  the 
water. 


CHAPTER    II. 

DUST-MAKERS — FROST,    HEAT,    AIR,    AND    WATER. 

Dust-makers — How  Rocks  are  affected  by  Cold,  Heat,  Air,  and  Water — 
Expansion  of  Water  and  Minerals — Dissolving  Power  of  Water — 
Formation  of  Oxides  and  Carbonates. 

THE  first  of  Nature's  dust-makers  whose  manner  of 
working  we  are  going  to  consider  is  frost. 

If  a  hollow  ball  of  cast-iron  be  filled  with  water,  care- 
fully plugged,  and  then  exposed  to  a  temperature  low 
enough  to  freeze  the  water,  what  will  be  the  result  ? 

The  water,  as  it  congeals  into  ice,  will  require  one- 
fifteenth  more  space  than  it  did  before,  and  in  the  effort  to 
obtain  it  will  exert  so  much,  force  as  either  to  split  the  iron 
or  drive  out  the  plug.  Bombs  measuring  more  than  thirteen 
inches  in  diameter  have  been  thus  burst  in  two ;  while  in 
one  experiment,  an  iron  plug,  weighing  more  than  three 
pounds,  was  hurled  to  a  distance  of  328  feet. 

Of  course,  if  the  iron  expanded  also,  and  in  an  equal 
degree,  there  would  be  room  enough  for  the  ice  ;  but,  like 
most  other  bodies,  iron  shrinks  under  the  influence  of  cold, 
so  that  there  is  actually  less  space  instead  of  more. 

We  all  know  what  frost  can  do  in  the  way  of  cracking  a 
glass  in  which  water  has  been  left,  or,  worse  still,  in  bursting 
our  water-pipes,  though  some  people  seem  to  imagine  that 
these  latter  are  burst  by  the  thaw,  and  not  by  the  frost. 
Like  the  iron  ball,  they  are,  however,  cracked  by  the  pres- 


EXPANSION  BY  COLD.  25 

sure  of  the  ice,  although  we,  01  course,  are  not  made  aware 
of  the  fact  until  the  ice  melts  again.  If  empty  when  the 
frost  sets  in  they  do  not  suffer. 

But  though  we  may  grumble  at  the  plumber's  bill,  or 
perhaps  at  somebody's  carelessness,  we  should  be  in  a  yet 
worse  plight  if  water  did  not  expand  on  becoming  ice,  for  in 
that  case  the  greater  part  of  Europe  would  probably  be 
uninhabitable,  and  all  the  fishes  in  lakes  and  rivers  would 
die.  The  water  at  the  surface,  as  it  grew  cooler,  and,  there- 
fore, heavier,  would  sink  to  the  bottom,  while  the  warmer, 
lighter  water  from  beneath  would  take  its  place,  and  be 
cooled  in  its  turn,  and  again  sink,  and  this  exchange  would 
go  on  until  the  whole  mass  of  water  was  congealed  into 
solid  ice,  which  the  summer  heat  would  be  powerless  to 
melt.  As  it  is,  however,  no  sooner  has  the  whole  of  the  water 
in  a  pond  been  cooled  down  to  4°  C.  (39^°  Fahr.)  than  this 
vertical  movement  ceases ;  and  although  the  water  on  the 
surface  may  continue  to  lose  heat,  instead  of  shrinking  to- 
gether, and  so  becoming  heavier,  as  it  has  done  up  to  this 
point,  it  now  does  precisely  the  reverse.  Below  4°  C.  it  ex- 
pands, becomes  consequently  lighter,  remains  on  the  surface, 
and  is  frozen  into  a  crust  of  ice. 

But  how  does  all  this  affect  the  rocks  ?  for  they  are  our 
present  concern. 

All  rocks  are  more  or  less  jointed,  because  all  have 
undergone  drying  or  cooling,  and  have  shrunk  somewhat  in 
the  process,  and  while  some,  like  basalt,  show  regular  lines 
of  division,  others,  such  as  chalk,  clay,  gravel,  and  even  sand, 
show  certain  irregular  lines,  along  which  water,  of  course, 
makes  its  way  more  readily  than  in  any  other  direction.  But 


26  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

besides  admitting  water  into  these  cracks,  most  rocks  also 
absorb  more  or  less,  according  to  their  texture  and  composi- 
tion. One  coarse  kind  of  granite,  for  instance,  has  been 
found  to  suck  up  as  much  as  four  pounds  of  water  to  the 
cubic  foot  in  the  course  of  eighty-eight  hours,  when  kept 
entirely  submerged ;  and  although  rocks  are  seldom  so 
severely  tried  as  this  in  Nature,  they  must  take  up  a  certain 
amount  of  water  in  one  way  or  the  other,  and  when  this 
remains  sufficiently  near  the  surface  to  be  frozen,  every 
single  drop  of  it  expands  with  such  force  as  to  splinter  the 
surface  and  widen  the  cracks  within,  thus  affording  easier 
entrance  to  the  rain  on  the  next  shower. 

The  cliffs  along  the  Hudson  River  are  piled  up  to  more 
than  half  their  own  height  with  the  immense  heaps  of  frag- 
ments which  have  been  detached  in  this  way,  the  winters 
in  the  State  of  New  York  being  so  severe  that  the  frost 
penetrates  to  a  great  depth  below  the  surface. 

High  up  among  the  mountains  this  work  of  destruction 
goes  on,  not  in  the  winter  only,  but  almost  daily  throughout 
the  year,  the  scorching  heat  of  noon,  which  melts  the  ice  and 
snow,  withers  the  grass,  and  blisters  the  face,  being  often 
followed  by  sharp  frost  at  night.  And  the  result  of  these 
extreme  and  constantly-repeated  changes  is,  not  only  that 
the  mountains  are  cut  and  carved  into  such  bold  pinnacles 
as  are  seen  around  Mont  Blanc,  but  that  many  an  appa- 
rently solid  ridge  of  rock  is  found,  on  inspection,  to  consist 
of  large  angular  fragments,  still  in  the  position  they  occu- 
pied when  united,  but  so  loosely  piled  together  that  a  gust 
of  wind  might  scatter  them. 

Even  in  Great  Britain  the  wreckage  produced  simply  by 


EXPANSION  BY  HEAT.  27 

changes  of  temperature  is  enormous,  the  tops  of  our  higher 
hills  being  often  covered  to  a  great  depth  with  their  own 
ruins ;  while  in  Kamschatka  both  hills  and  table-lands  are 
crowded  with  the  great  square  blocks  and  slabs  which  have 
been  forced  off  by  the  mighty  energy  of  the  frost.  Even 
the  soil  is  made  to  feel  its  power ;  fence-posts  are  sometimes 
lifted  out  ot  their  places  by  the  heaving  occasioned  by  the 
formation  of  ice  in  its  interstices,  and  the  farmer  finds  that 
the  clods  on  his  heavy  land  are  more  effectually  broken  up 
for  him  by  a  sharp  frost  than  they  could  be  by  any  human 
implements. 

But  heat  also  has  a  share  in  breaking  down  the  rocks, 
and  we  might  burst  our  iron  ball  just  as  effectually  by  boil- 
ing as  by  freezing  the  water  contained  in  it. 

Between  o°  C.  (32°  Fahr.)  and  4°  C.  (39*-°  Fahr.)  water, 
as  we  have  seen,  expands  when  cooled  and  contracts  when 
heated ;  but  above  and  below  these  temperatures  it  follows 
the  usual  law,  and  like  any  other  body,  whether  solid,  liquid, 
or  gas,  the  more  it  is  heated  the  more  room  it  wants,  one 
cubic  inch  of  water  being  enough  to  produce  1,728  cubic 
inches  of  steam. 

All  bodies  do  not  expand  in  the  same  proportion,  how- 
ever, and  while  most  metals  remain  solid,  i.e.,  frozen,  even 
under  the  fierce  sun  of  the  equator,  quicksilver  is  never 
anything  but  liquid,  even  during  intense  frost,  and  expands 
so  rapidly  under  the  influence  of  heat,  that  thermometers 
sometimes  burst  from  simple  exposure  to  a  hot  sun. 

Iron,  though  remaining  solid,  expands  perceptibly,  and 
the  difference  in  length  of  the  400  miles  of  rails  laid  down 
on  the  line  between  London  and  Edinburgh  is  338  yards, 


28  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

according  as  they  are  measured  in  the  winter  or  in  the 
summer.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  a  space  is  always  left  between 
each  length  of  rail,  for,  if  it  had  not  room  to  stretch,  it 
would  bend  upwards  or  outwards,  with  disastrous  results. 

It  is,  perhaps,  not  easy  to  realise  the  amount  of  force 
exerted  by  a  piece  of  metal  in  the  act  of  expansion  ;  but  it 
certainly  cannot  be  ignored  with  impunity,  as  the  builders  of 
an  iron  foot-bridge  in  London  have  had  to  learn  to  their 
cost.  They  had  covered  the  iron  with  concrete,  and  this 
again  with  pavement,  forgetting  that,  although  these,  too, 
would  expand  in  their  degree,  the  metal  would  want  to  ex- 
pand still  more ;  and  the  consequence  was  that  when  the 
summer  came,  both  were  split  by  the  force  with  which  the 
iron  swelled  upwards. 

From  this  it  is  evident  that  rocks  composed  of  two  or 
three  different  minerals  are  at  a  special  disadvantage  with 
regard  to  sudden  changes  of  temperature,  as  one  mineral 
will  expand  more  than  its  neighbours,  and  push  them  slightly 
out  of  place — a  mere  trifle  it  may  seem,  and  yet,  when  often 
repeated,  it  will  be  quite  enough  to  loosen  them.  In  a 
damp  climate  the  mischief  is  greatly  increased  by  the  absorp- 
tion of  moisture,  and  its  conversion  into  particles  of  ice ; 
but  in  the  dry  air  of  the  Sahara  the  rocks  are  splintered  into 
fragments,  and  reduced  to  powder  merely  by  the  alternations 
of  heat  and  cold ;  and  in  the  Peninsula  of  Sinai — where  the 
sun  has  scarcely  risen  before  he  begins  to  peel  the  skin  from 
one's  face,  though  everything  may  have  been  covered  with 
hoar-frost  during  the  night — the  very  flints  become  so  rotten 
as  to  fall  to  pieces  at  a  touch,  from  the  repeated  expansion 
and  contraction  they  have  undergone. 


EFFECTS  OF  OXYGEN.  29 

But  another  of  Nature's  most  active  dust-makers  is  the 
air,  which,  though  we  breathe  it  with  impunity,  is  yet  a 
deadly  enemy  to  many  of  the  rocks. 

This  air  is  a  mixture,  not  a  compound,  consisting  chiefly 
of  oxygen  and  nitrogen,  in  the  proportion  of  about  twenty- 
one  parts  of  the  former  to  seventy-nine  of  the  latter,  with  a 
very  small  quantity  (-g-gVo)  of  carbonic  acid,  and  a  varying 
amount  of  water-gas,  or  aqueous  vapour. 

Minute  quantities  of  everything  capable  of  assuming  the 
gaseous  form  are  also  to  be  found  in  the  atmosphere,  but 
these  four  together  constitute  its  main  bulk.  The  oxygen 
and  nitrogen  are  simple  substances,  and  cannot  be  split  up 
into  anything  else,  whereas  each  molecule  of  water-gas  is  a 
compound,  consisting  of  two  atoms  of  hydrogen  and  one  of 
oxygen  ;  and  each  molecule  of  carbonic  acid  gas  consists  of 
two  atoms  of  oxygen  and  one  of  carbon. 

Now,  oxygen  will  combine  with  every  known  elementary 
substance  but  one,  and  foremost  among  those  by  which  it 
is  particularly  attracted  stands  iron,  with  which  it  unites  to 
form  oxide  of  iron,  or  what  we  commonly  call  "rust."  Not 
an  atom  of  the  iron  is  lost,  but  the  oxygen  it  has  absorbed 
has  changed  its  colour,  added  to  its  weight  and  bulk,  and 
made  it  less  compact  than  before. 

In  perfectly  dry  air  a  mass  of  iron  will  remain  untar- 
nished,  at  the  ordinary  temperature,  though  if  reduced 
to  powder  it  is  so  vigorously  seized  upon  by  the  oxygen 
as  to  take  fire  spontaneously  and  burn  away  to  oxide. 
But  natural  air  is  never  free  from  moisture,  and  this  fact 
enables  the  oxygen  to  attack  both  iron  and  steel  wherever 
it  finds  them.  We  have  only  to  rub  away  the  rust  from 


30  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

a  knife  to  see  how  the  surface  has  been    roughened   by 
the  eating  away  of  the  steel. 

Those  who  have  possessed  specimens  of  a  mineral 
popularly  known  as  "fool's  gold,"  which  looks,  as  to 
colour,  something  like  tarnished  silver,  may  have  been 
puzzled  by  finding  the  cabinet  drawer  strewn  with  an 
ash-like  powder,  which  constantly  re-appeared  at  intervals 
of  only  a  few  weeks.  And  when  at  last  they  have  traced 
it  to  the  "  fool's  gold "  and  found  that  this  was  gradually 
crumbling  away,  perhaps  they  were  hardly  less  puzzled 
than  before. 

In  spite  of  its  name,  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  gold, 
being  in  fact  a  variety  of  iron  pyrites,  called  marcasite, 
which  is  a  compound  of  iron  and  sulphur,  both  of  which 
attract  oxygen. 

The  oxygen  first  attacks  the  sulphur,  with  which,  and 
the  moisture  of  the  air,  it  forms  sulphuric  acid.  This,  in 
,  its  turn,  seizes  on  the  iron,  and  as  the  water  evaporates, 
minute  needle-like  crystals  of  sulphate  of  iron  are  formed. 
Some  of  the  pyrites  is  converted  into  this  "  salt,"  as  it  is 
chemically  called,  and  more  is  broken  up  by  the  crystals 
as  they  force  their  way  to  the  surface. 

Zinc  is  able  to  resist  the  attacks  of  oxygen  at  all 
ordinary  temperatures,  and  it  is  therefore  used  in  thin 
sheets  as  a  covering  for  iron,  which,  when  thus  protected, 
is  said  to  be  galvanised.  As  long  as  the  zinc  remains 
entire,  the  iron  is  quite  safe,  but  the  smallest  hole  is 
sufficient  to  admit  the  air,  and  then,  as  the  iron  rusts,  the 
zinc  is  forced  up,  because,  as  was  said  just  now,  oxide  of 
iron  takes  up  more  space  than  the  iron  alone. 


RUSTED  ROCKS.  31 

Now,  many  rocks  contain  a  quantity  of  iron,  and  to  them, 
of  course,  oxygen  is  a  great  enemy.  The  very  compact  and 
almost  black  rock,  called  basalt,  which  forms  the  columns 
of  the  Giant's  Causeway,  contains  much  iron,  and  where 


Fig.  9. — ROCK  FORMATION,  GIANT'S  CAUSEWAY,  IRELAND. 

exposed  to  the  weather  its  surface  is  always  found  covered 
with  soft  brown  rust,  which  gradually  eats  deeper  into  the 
mass  (Fig.  9). 

Moreover,  though   compact,  basalt  is   very  absorbent ; 


32  THE  WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

wet  patches  are  sometimes  found  in  the  middle  of  its 
columns,  and  as  all  water  contains  dissolved  oxygen,* 
wherever  water  penetrates,  there  brown  patches  of  oxide 
are  formed,  which  crack  the  rock  if  they  cannot  otherwise 
find  enough  room.  There  are  many  other  minerals  besides 
iron  with  which  oxygen  unites  to  form  oxides,  buf  as 
the  results  are  similar  we  need  not  dwell  upon  them  now, 
and  may  go  on  to  consider  some  of  Nature's  other 
labourers. 

One  of  the  most  active  of  these,  even  chemically 
considered,  is  water,  for  though  we  call  many  substances 
insoluble,  gold  and  platinum  are  probably  the  only  two 
which  are  actually  unaffected  even  by  pure  cold  water. 
One  sometimes  hears  people  say  that  china  and  glass 
grow  thin  by  repeated  washing,  and  though  their  senses 
must  be  remarkably  keen  if  they  are  able  to  detect  the 
change,  there  is,  no  doubt,  the  proverbial  grain  of  truth 
in  what  they  say;  for,  if  water  be  kept  boiling  in  a  glass 
vessel  for  any  length  of  time,  it  does  certainly  dissolve 
some  of  the  glass,  while  powdered  glass  at  once  gives  a 
perceptible  flavour  even  to  cold  water,  and  certain  kinds 
of  Chinese  porcelain  have  been  proved  to  be  more  or 
less  soluble. 

But  we  are  speaking  of  pure  water,  whereas,  from  the 
very  nature  of  the  case,  it  is  impossible  that  there  should 
be  any  such  thing  as  perfectly  pure  water,  either  in  the 

*  It  is  this  dissolved  oxygen,  not  that  combined  with  the  hydrogen, 
which  fishes  breathe.  If  you  remove  the  combined  oxygen,  water  ceases 
to  be  water,  but  you  may  expel  the  dissolved  oxygen  and  other  gases  by 
boiling,  and  the  water  merely  becomes  "  flat.1' 


No   WATER  QUITE  PURE.  33 

air  or  on  the  earth.  It  is  almost  pure,  indeed,  when 
drawn  up  by  the  sun  from  the  ocean,  but,  the  moment 
it  falls  to  the  earth  again  it  begins  to  gather  up  various 
impurities,  according  to  the  nature  of  the  soil  over  which 
it  passes;  and  even  before  it  touches  the  ground,  during 
its  passage  through  the  air,  it  gathers  up,  not  only  dust, 
but  gases,  of  which  the  most  important  to  us  just  now  is 
carbonic  acid,  or  carbon  dioxide,  as  it  is  called  by 
modern  chemists. 

The  quantity  of  carbonic  acid  in  the  air  is  relatively 
small;  but  there  are  from  twenty  to  a  hundred  times  as 
much  in  the  soil ;  it  is  poured  forth  in  large  quantities 
from  cracks  in  the  earth  in '  volcanic  districts,  and  is 
almost  universal  at  great  depths,  so  that,  from  one  source 
and  another,  all  rain,  spring,  and  river  water  is  more  or 
less  impregnated  with  it,  and  its  solvent  powers  are  there- 
by much  increased.* 

Iron  oxide  and  various  other  oxides,  which  are  called 
insoluble  because  they  may  be  kept  a  long  time  in  pure 
water  without  any  perceptible  alteration,  are  readily  dis- 
solved by  water  containing  carbonic  acid;  but  the  gas 
is  also  quite  capable  of  working  on  its  own  account, 
without  the  assistance  of  oxygen.  It  is  the  especial 
enemy  of  all  rocks  containing  felspar,  as  this  mineral  is 
composed  partly  of  potash  or  soda,  together  with  lime 
and  magnesia,  and  with  all  these  carbonic  acid  readily 
unites  to  form  carbonates,  which  are  then  easily  dissolved 
and  washed  away  by  the  rain. 

*  Ordinary  springs  and  rivers  contain  less  than  one  per  cent.  ;  but  water 
from  the  Saratoga  springs  contains  231  cubic  inches  to  the  gallon. 
D 


34  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

Of  the  rocks  containing  felspar,  the  one  with  which 
we  are  perhaps  most  familiar  is  granite  (Fig.  10),  which 
consists  of  the  three  minerals,  felspar,  mica,  and  quartz, 
crystallised  together  in  very  varying  proportions,  and  in 
crystals  of  very  various  sizes.  Quartz  is  nearly  pure  silica  ;* 


Fig.  io.— SECTION  OF  CORNISH  GRANITE,  SHOWING  FELSPAR,  ETC. 

it  is  so  hard  as  to  scratch  glass,  is  but  little  affected 
by  heat  or  cold,  or  by  the  gases  of  the  atmosphere, 
and  absorbs  so  little  moisture  that  even  frost  .cannot 
greatly  injure  it. 

Hence  a  granite  which  contains  a  large  proportion  of 
quartz  is  one  of  the  most  durable  rocks  there  is.  It  is 
the  felspar  t  which  admits  the  enemy ;  and  when  its  potash, 
soda,  lime,  or  magnesia,  have  been  converted  into  soluble 
carbonates  and  washed  away,  the  silicate  of  alumina,  which 

*  Flint  is  impure  silica.  f  See  Chap.  viii. 


EFFECTS  OF  CARBONIC  ACID.  35 

is  all  that  remains,  is  reduced  to  powder,  and  the  grains  of 
quartz  and  mica,  having  lost  the  cement  which  united 
them,  fall  apart  and  form  silicious  sand.  Some  granites 
contain  so  little  quartz  and  mica  that  they  are  called 
felspar  rock,  and  these  are  very  liable  to  decay,  since, 
besides  being  attacked  by  the  carbonic  acid,  they  are 
also  so  absorbent  of  water  that  the  winter  frosts  make 
great  havoc  with  them, 

But  it  is  the  various  limestones  which  suffer  most  from 
carbonic  acid,  especially  in  towns,  where  the  air  contains  a 
far  larger  proportion  of  the  gas  than  it  does  in  the 
country. 

All  limestone,  chalk,  and  marble,  properly  so  called, 
consist  mainly  of  carbonate  of  lime,*  which  is  insoluble 
in  pure  water ;  but  when  it  comes  in  contact  with  carbonic 
acid,  each  atom  of  the  carbonate  will  take  up  a  second 
atom  of  carbonic  acid,  and,  having  done  this,  will  melt 
as  easily  as  sugar  or  salt.  This  we  may  readily  prove  by 
getting  from  the  chemist  some  lime-water — water  in  which 
lime  is  dissolved.  We  should  not  know  from  its  ap- 
pearance that  there  was  anything  in  it ;  but,  on  our 
blowing  into  it  through  a  tube,  it  at  once  becomes  milky, 
because  the  carbonic  acid  of  our  breath  has  united  itself 
to  the  lime  and  made  it  into  the  single  carbonate  of  lime, 
which,  being  insoluble,  cannot  be  hidden  in  the  water. 
If,  however,  we  go  on  blowing,  the  water  will  become 
transparent  again,  for  the  lime  will  take  up  more  carbonic 
acid,  and  the  double  carbonate  will  be  formed,  and  melt 
away,  making  the-  water  "  hard." 

*  A  compound  of  lime  and  carbonic  acid. 


36  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

Most  spring  and  river  water  contains  some  of  this  dis- 
solved double  carbonate  ;  when  boiled,  half  the  carbonic 
acid  is  driven  off,  and  the  single,  insoluble  carbonate  is 
deposited  in  kettles  or  boilers,  forming  the  crust  which  we 
call  "fur." 

Boiled  water  is  "flat,"  however,  from  the  loss  of 
the  dissolved  gases,  and  it  may  be  as  effectually  softened 
in  another  way.  The  Canterbury  water,  being  derived 
from  the  chalk,  naturally  contains  a  great  deal  of  the 
dissolved  bi-carbonate,  or  double  carbonate,  and  though 
very  clear  is  very  hard.  It  is  softened  by  the  addition  of 
lime  (calcium  oxide),  each  atom  of  which  takes  away  one 
atom  of  carbonic  acid  from  the  dissolved  bi-carbonate, 
thus  converting  both  the  latter  and  itself  into  the  insoluble 
single  carbonate,  which  makes  the  water  milky  at  first, 
but  gradually  sinks  to  the  bottom  and  leaves  it  quite 
clear. 

But  enough  has  been  said  to  show  the  strong  attraction 
existing  between  lime  and  carbonic  acid  j  and  there  is 
no  difficulty  in  understanding  how  it  is  that  the  Portland 
stone  of  which  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  was  built  not  two 
hundred  years  ago  is  already  beginning  to  moulder,  and 
how  tombstones  of  Italian  marble  lose  their  polish  in  a 
year  or  two,  and  in  the  course  of  sixteen  years  are  often 
so  roughened  that  the  grains  of  carbonate  of  lime  may 
be  rubbed  off  with  the  finger. 

From  these  examples  we  may  also  form  some  idea  of 
the  way  in  which  carbonic  acid  works  away  at  the  rocks  ; 
but  on  this  head  there  will  be  more  to  say  hereafter. 


37 


CHAPTER  III. 

DUST-MAKERS — WIND,    WAVES,    RAIN. 

The  Sand-blast,  how  it  Cuts  and  Polishes— How  the  Waves  Work— A 
Shower  of  Rain,  what  causes  it,  what  becomes  of  it — Springs, 
Land-slips,  "  Stone  Rivers. '' 

OF  late  years  a  new  way  of  grinding  and  etching  glass 
has  been  invented  by  an  American.  Instead  of  the 
usual  acid  he  employs  fine  quartz  sand,  which  is  driven 
against  the  glass  by  a  blast  of  air,  and  in  from  ten  to  fifteen 
seconds  removes  all  the  polish  from  the  surface. 

Window-glass  exposed  near  the  sea-shore  soon  loses  its 
polish  in  like  manner  from  the  natural  sand-blast  which  so 
often  drives  against  it ;  but  the  artificial  sand-blast  not 
merely  de-polishes  but  actually  cuts  through  substances 
harder  than  the  sand  itself.  A  solid  block  of  corundum,  for 
instance,  which  is  but  little  inferior  to  the  diamond  in  point 
of  hardness,  may  be  bored  to  the  depth  of  an  inch  and  a 
half  in  five-and-twenty  minutes ;  while  a  quarter  of  an  inch 
of  hard  steel  may  be  cut  through  in  ten  minutes,  and  in  the 
course  of  an  hour  a  piece  of  marble  half  an  inch  thick  can 
be  covered  with  an  elaborate  open-work  pattern,  such  as  it 
would  take  many  days  to  produce  by  the  ordinary  process. 

And  now  let  us  see  what  Nature  has  accomplished  by 
means  of  her  sand-blast,  which  has  been  in  operation  for 
ages  past  (Fig.  n). 

In  the  neighbourhood   of    Suez  the  ground  is  thickly 


3 &  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

covered  with  red  sand,  which  is  so  fine  as  to  be  set  in  motion 
by  the  slightest  breath  of  air.  Even  on  a  still  day  it  looks 
as  if  a  thin  cloud  of  smoke  were  constantly  sweeping  over 
the  surface,  while  if  the  wind  be  but  moderately  strong,  it 


Fig.  ii.— SAND  GLACIER  OVERWHELMING  A  GARDEN  IN  ELBOW  BAY, 
BERMUDAS.* 

is  almost  impossible  to  face  it,  owing  to  the  cutting  sharp- 
ness of  the  sand  with  which  it  is  laden ;  and  the  hands  when 
held  close  to  the  ground  at  such  times,  tingle  unbearably  for 
the  same  reason. 

*  Sir  Wyville  Thomson  says  that  the  sand  has  entirely  filled  up  a  valley, 
and  is  steadily  progressing  inland  in  a  mass  about  twenty-five  feet  thick. 
On  its  path  from  the  beach  it  has  covered  a  wood  of  cedars  ! 


NATURE'S  SAND-BLAST.  39 

Nature's  sand-blast  is  indeed  a  powerful  engine,  for  it 
has  pitted  and  polished  the  upper  surface  of  every  rock  and 
stone  in  the  desert,  besides  so  smoothing  and  rounding  many 
a  boulder  that  it  looks  as  if  it  had  been  rolled  about  in  the  sea. 

In  other  parts  of  the  world  a  glance  at  the  rocks  on  the 
coast  is  often  enough  to  tell  one  the  prevailing  direction 
of  the  wind,  so  much  have  they  suffered  on  that  side.  At 
Heard  Island  the  sand-blast  has  cut  the  rocks  into  tree-like 
shapes;  in  the  Bermudas  (Fig.  n)  it  has  given  them  an  arti- 
ficial appearance  as  of  being  cut  and  dressed  by  a  mason's 
chisel ;  in  a  pass  to  the  south  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake  the 
hills  are  worn  away  and  the  rocks  polished  by  the  ceaseless 
scouring  of  the  sand  driven  against  them  from  the  west ;  and 
in  an  island  in  Lake  Kara-Kul,  not  only  has  the  surface  of 
the  hard  sandstone  suffered  considerably,  but  some  of  the 
rocks  have  been  drilled  through  by  the  sand-laden  wind 
from  the  north. 

Then  again,  stones  have  been  brought  from  Lyell's  Bay, 
near  Wellington,  New  Zealand,  many  of  which  the  un- 
initiated would  certainly  imagine  to  have  been  shaped  by 
human  hands,  so  strongly  do  they  resemble  the  knives,  arrow- 
heads,spear-heads,  &c.,  of  what  is  called  the  Stone  Age.  All 
have  sharp-cutting  edges,  and  their  facets  seem  to  have  been 
chiselled  with  careful  attention  to  symmetry.  Yet  the  only 
chisel  used  upon  them  has  been  the  sand  of  the  bay,  and 
the  hands  which  guided  it  were  the  two  winds  there  domi- 
nant, which  have  urged  the  sand  against  opposite  sides  of 
the  stone  in  turn,  each  grain  of  sand  chipping  away  its 
infinitesimal  bit  of  stone,  and  in  the  end  sculpturing  these 
singular  forms. 


40  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

So  much  for  the  work  done  by  wind-driven  sand.  We 
shall  see  presently  that  it  is  no  less  effectual  when  urged  by 
water. 

The  waves  of  the  sea,  indeed,  as  they  thunder  against  the 
cliffs,  are  powerful  enough  to  do  a  large  amount  of  rough 
work  without  assistance  j  but  what  tremendous  blows  they 
must  deal  when  they  rush  up  to  a  height  of  perhaps  a 
hundred  feet,  laden,  as  of  course  they  often  are,  not  only 
with  sand  and  pebbles,  but  even  with  large  stones. 

When  especially  furious,  they  will  tear  down  piers  and 
jetties  and  carry  away  long  lengths  of  sea-wall,  and  at  all 
times  they  are  more  or  less  busy  undermining  the  cliffs,  and 
when  these  at  last  fall  in  by  their  own  weight,  the  'fragments 
are  dashed  one  against  the  other,  broken  into  smaller  frag- 
ments, rolled  and  rounded  into  pebbles  and  ground  into 
sand,  and  perhaps  swept  farther  along  the  coast  and  cast  up 
as  beds  of  sand,  gravel,  or  shingle. 

With  all  their  fuss  and  fury,  however,  the  waves  are 
usually  unable  to  keep  pace  with  the  silent  workers  above 
— frost,  thaw,  atmosphere,  &c.  And,  accordingly,  though 
the  cliffs  are  hollowed  into  caverns  here  and  there,  they  do 
not  on  the  whole  overhang  the  sea,  but  slope  away  from  it, 
showing  that  the  wear  and  tear  proceed  after  all  at  a  more 
rapid  rate  above  than  below. 

Perhaps  the  largest  shingle-bed  in  the  world  is  that  which 
lies  on  the  east  coast  of  Patagonia,  and  is  between  six  and 
seven  hundred  miles  in  length.  Its  average  width  is  two 
hundred  miles,  and  its  average  thickness  fifty  feet,  which,  in 
at  least  one  place,  is  increased  to  more  than  two  hundred 
feet ;  and  if  the  pebbles  alone,  without  the  accompanying 


A  SHOWER  OF  RAIN.  41: 

sand  and  mud,  were  piled  together,  they  would  make  a  great 
mountain  chain. 

Running  water,  when  provided  with  a  due  amount  of 
sand  or  gravel,  is  capable  of  undermining  and  rounding  the 
hardest  rocks,  as  we  shall  see  more  particularly  when  we 
come  to  speak  of  the  rivers,  but  we  have  first  to  say  some- 
thing of  their  mother,  the  rain. 

What  happens  after  an  ordinary  shower  ? 

For  a  time  the  surface  is  wet  and  there  may  be  puddles  in 
the  hollows,  but  if  the  soil  be  a  light  one,  all  traces  of  the 
rain  soon  disappear,  and  we  say  it  has  "  dried  up."  Every 
drop  that  has  fallen  is  somewhere,  however,  and  it  has 
certainly  not  all  gone  back  to  the  air  in  the  form  of  vapour, 
though  in  hot  or  windy  weather  so  much  may  do  so  that  the 
soil  will  benefit  but  little. 

The  hotter  the  air  the  more  water  it  can  take  up  and  hold 
in  the  form  of  invisible  vapour,  but  it  can  never  hold  more 
than  a  certain  quantity  at  any  given  temperature,  and  when 
it  has  taken  up  this  utmost  quantity  it  is  said  to  be  saturated. 
In  our  damp  island  the  air  is  often  saturated  with  moisture, 
which  is  not  an  agreeable  state  of  things ;  but  more  un- 
pleasant still  is  it  when  the  air  contains  less  than  half  the 
saturating  quantity,  for  it  will  suck  up  moisture  wherever  it 
finds  it,  and  therefore  takes  it,  not  only  from  the  ground  but 
from  vegetation,  and  even  our  bodies,  making  us  feel  "  dried 
up"  and  wretched.  In  the  African  deserts,  where  the  very 
air,  as  well  as  the  ground,  is  parched  with  thirst,  the  traveller 
finds  that  his  lips  crack  and  bleed,  his  whole  body  burns, 
and  his  skin  is  dried  till  it  bursts  in  a  hundred  places. 
Even  then,  however,  the  air  is  not  absolutely  dry,  though  it 


42  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

contains  perhaps  not  more  than  a  fifteenth  of  the  saturating 
quantity.  If  it  were  quite  dry,  no  animal  or  vegetable  could 
exist  in  it. 

But  besides  preserving  all  living  things  from  being  dried 
to  chips,  the  moisture  of  the  air  also  benefits  us  in  another 
way,  by  keeping  the  earth  both  cool  and  warm.  By  day  it 
acts  as  a  screen  to  moderate  the  fierce  heat  of  the  sun,  and 
by  night  it  serves  as  a  blanket  to  keep  in  some  of  the  heat 
received  during  the  day;  and  accordingly,  where  the  air 
is  comparatively  dry,  as  in  the  desert,  the  nights  are  in- 
tensely cold  while  the  days  are  scorching  hot. 

When  warm  air  laden  with  moisture  rises  into  higher  and 
colder  regions,  or  meets  a  current  of  colder  air,  some  of  the 
moisture  becomes  liquid  and  condenses  into  a  cloud  of  very 
minute  globules.  This  is  what  happens  in  the  case  of  our 
breath  on  a  cold  day;  and  though  whales  have  been 
popularly  believed  to  suck  in  the  jets  of  water  which  they 
throw  up,  they,  too,  really  discharge  only  breath,  the  moisture 
of  which  condenses  and  falls  down  like  a  fountain  from  a 
very  fine  rose,  or  a  shower  of  rain  from  a  cloud. 

And  this  brings  us  back  to  the  shower,  whose  history  we 
are  going  to  investigate.  Part  of  it, 'then,  has  returned  to  the 
air,  part  has  been  sucked  up  by  the  roots  of  trees,  &c.,  and 
the  remainder  sinks  farther  into  the  ground  and  goes  on  sink- 
ing until  it  meets  with  something  to  stop  it.  In  a  very  light, 
porous  soil,  the  water  drains  through  so  rapidly  that  none 
but  the  least  thirsty  plants  get  enough  to  satisfy  them,  and 
the  ground  is  consequently  barren. 

If,  on  the  other  hand,  the  soil  be  close  and  impervious, 
like  clay,  very  little  water  will  sink  in,  and  the  greater  part 


SUBTERRANEAN  CHANNELS.  43 

will  either  stand  in  ruts  and  puddles  until  sucked  up 
by  the  air,  or  run  away  to  feed  the  nearest  ditch,  or  sink 
through  some  bed  of  sand  at  a  distance.  But  though  clay 
usually  lets  but  little  water  pass  through,  yet  it  parts  with 
so  much  of  its  own  moisture  in  hot  dry  seasons  that  it 
gapes  in  all  directions,  and  when  the  rain  comes  much 
of  it  escapes  through  these  cracks. 

In  one  way  or  other,  then,  a  great  deal  of  rain  sinks  into 
the  ground,  and  when  its  downward  progress  is  arrested  by 
some  impenetrable  bed,  it  soaks  through  the  soil  sideways, 
and  sometimes  travels  many  miles  before  it  finds  an  outlet, 
while,  by  dint  of  often  using  the  same  road,  it  frequently 
wears  for  itself  an  open  channel,  along  which  it  flows  as 
rapidly  as  the  rivers  above  ground  do  in  theirs.  That 
this  must  be  the  case  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  a  large 
increase  of  water  is  observed  in  certain  wells  and  fountains 
(as,  for  instance,  at  Nismes),  so  soon  after  rain  has  fallen 
some  miles  off  that  it  is  impossible  it  should  have  passed 
through  soil,  however  porous.  Moreover,  in  some  places 
the  water  from  time  to  time  throws  up  seeds,  vegetables, 
fresh-water  shells,  and  even  fishes,  which  have  evidently 
travelled  a  long  way  underground,  as  much  sometimes  as 
one  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  and  this,  of  course,  can  only  be 
by  open  channels. 

Where  such  channels  do  not  exist  the  water  spreads 
about  in  all  directions  in  search  of  an  outlet,  which  it  finds, 
perhaps,  in  the  face  of  a  cliff,  the  side  of  a  hill,  or  at 
the  bottom  of  a  slope  so'  trifling  as  not  to  deserve  the 
name  of  hill.  Where,  however,  the  whole  face  of  the 
country  is  as  flat  as  a  table,  there,  of  course,  no  springs 


44  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

can  come  to  the  surface,  and  the  water  remains  locked  up 
in  its  subterranean  reservoirs;  and  where  there  are  no 
springs  there  are  neither  brooks,  nor  streams,  nor  rivers, 
and  the  inhabitants  must  either  sink  wells,  or  catch  and 
store  the  rain  as  it  falls. 

But  it  is  as  dust-makers  that  we  must  now  consider  the 
springs,  and  in  this  capacity  they  are  often  very  active. 

As  they  flow  underground  they  tear  up  and  carry  away 
in  the  form  of  mud  some  of  the  clay,  &c.,  over  which  they 
pass,  thus  undermining  the  rocks  above,  which  in  course 
of  time  sink  down  or  subside.  But  if  the  bed  over  which 
the  water  flows  be,  as  it  often  is,  a  sloping  one,  something 
else  is  very  apt  to  occur ;  for  if  the  upper  beds  be  of  sand, 
chalk,  or  any  other  porous  rock,  they  become  so  heavy 
after  much  rain  that  large  masses  often  slip  down  over  the 
greasy  clay  beneath,  which,  instead  of  offering  any  resistance, 
helps  them  down  just  as  the  tallowed  planks  help  to  launch 
a  ship. 

Landslips  of  this  kind  have  occurred  at  various  places 
along  the  English  coast,  and  not  long  ago  one  took  place  at 
Crich  Cliff,  near  Matlock.  The  limestone  of  which  the  hill 
consists  rests  upon  a  sloping  bed  of  soft  clay,  which  was 
rendered  softer  and  more  slippery  still  by  unusually  heavy 
rain.  Cracks  opened  in  the  hill-side  and  in  some  cases 
grew  from  a  few  inches  to  yards  in  width.  Soon  after,  the 
cliff  was  seen  to  be  in  motion,  and  great  masses  of  lime- 
stone, many  tons  in  weight,  dashed  down  the  hill,  with 
a  roar  like  thunder,  and  swept  away  the  trees  in  their  path 
as  if  they  had  been  so  much  grass.  Many  million  tons  of 
rock  were  carried  down  in  this  way  ;  but  though  a  landslip 


LANDSLIPS  AND  STONE-RIVERS.  45 

of  this  kind  is  alarming  enough,  it  is  a  mere  trifle  compared 
with  what  takes  place  in  other  parts  of  the  world,  as,  for 
instance,  in  Switzerland,  where  the  Diablerets,  a  mountain 
which  is  limestone  above  and  soft  shale  below,  has  lost  three 
out  of  its  five  peaks,  and  almost  filled  a  valley  with  its  ruins. 

In  many  mountainous  districts  landslips  are  of  constant 
occurrence  in  the  wet  season,  and  the  sides  of  the  White 
Mountain  (New  Hampshire,  U.S.A.)  are  deeply  furrowed 
and  scarred  by  the  masses  of  earth,  &c.,  which  have  been 
hurled  down  them.  In  this  case,  while  part  of  the  moun- 
tain itself  is  sometimes  carried  away,  the  landslip  more 
often  consists  of  the  loose  upper  surface,  the  cap ,  of  soil, 
in  fact,  with  the  forest-trees  growing  in  it,  which  is  stripped 
off  to  a  depth  of  fifteen,  twenty,  or  thirty  feet,  leaving  the 
rock  quite  bare  over  an  area  sometimes  01  many  acres. 

Another  curious  form  of  landslip  is  that  of  the  famous 
"  stone-rivers  "  of  East  Island,  one  of  the  Falklands,  which 
are  produced,  not  by  any  extraordinary  convulsion,  but  by 
the  wear  and  tear  of  every  day. 

These  stone-rivers  at  a  distance  much  resemble  glaciers, 
and  vary  in  width  from  a  few  hundred  yards  to  a  mile  or 
two,  while  the  irregular  blocks  of  stone  of  which  they  are 
composed  are  from  two  to  twenty  feet  long.  They  are 
derived  from  the  bands  of  quartzite  of  the  ridges  above, 
some  of  which  are  very  hard,  and  others  so  soft  that  they 
pass  into  crumbling  sandstone.  As  the  latter  are  worn  and 
washed  away  by  rain,  frost,  &c.,  the  compact  bands  are 
left  as  long  projecting  ridges  along  the  crests  and  flanks  of 
the  hill-ranges,  until  at  last,  deprived  of  support,  they  give 
way  at  the  joints,  and  fall  from  their  places;  then,  when 


46  THE  WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

once  they  are  embedded  in  the  soil,  the  whole  mass  creeps 
down  even  the  gentlest  slope,  and  so  fills  the  valleys. 

But  rain  does  more  than  produce  springs  and  landslips. 
A  heavy  fall  will  do  a  certain  amount  of  direct  damage,  even 
in  this  temperate  climate,  by  washing  away  gravel,  and 
making  watercourses  down  the  sides  of  the  hills  and  along 
the  roads ;  but  in  the  tropics  its  operations  are  on  a  much 
larger  scale.  There  it  comes  down,  rnot  in  drops,  but  in 
strings,  and  is  often  so  heavy  that  fresh  water  may  be 
scooped  up  from  the  surface  of  the  sea ! 

After  seven  hours'  rain  in  Brazil,  on  one  occasion,  there 
were  torrents  rushing  down  every  slope;  the  water  streamed 
through  the  roofs  and  out  at  the  doors,  and  it  was  feared 
that  the  whole  village  of  Capelhinha  would  be  washed 
away.  At  such  times  the  rain  descends  in  streams  so 
dense  that  the  level  ground  is  quite  unable  to  absorb  it,  and 
is  quickly  covered  with  a  sheet  of  water,  while  it  rushes 
down  the  hills  in  torrents  of  such  volume  as  to  wear  deep 
channels  in  their  sides,  and  to  wash  away  all  the  mould 
from  the  rocks. 

A  few  miles  from  Sydney,  where  the  soil  is  friable,  a 
chasm,  twenty  feet  deep  and  twenty  yards  across,  has  been 
scooped  out  by  the  rain  in  the  course  of  a  dozen  years 
or  so ;  and  the  Blue  Mountains  of  Australia  have  been  cut 
into  extraordinary  deep  gullies  and  chasms  by  the  same  agent. 

It  is  not  often  possible  to  distinguish  between  the  effect 
of  driving  rain  and  that  of  running  water,  as  the  two  are 
generally  combined  ',  but  in  several  places,  notably  in  the 
Ravine  of  Finsterbach,  columns  of  hardened  mud,  from 
twenty  to  a  hundred  feet  in  height,  have  been  cut  out,  and 


EFFECT  OF  DRIVING  RAIN,  47 

separated  from  the  terrace  of  which  they  formed  part,  by 
the  action  of  rain  alone. 

A  similar  phenomenon  on  a  larger  scale  may  be 
seen  among  the  Wasatch  Mountains  of  the  Western  States 
of  America,  where  pinnacles,  some  of  them  four  hundred 


Fig.  12. —BLOCK  OF  PLUM-PUDDING  STONE. 

eet  high,  fringe  the  bank  of  the  South  river  for  miles.  The 
plum-pudding  stone  (Fig.  12)  of  which  they  are  composed 
(rounded  pebbles  cemented  together  by  clay  and  sandstone) 
is  liable  to  crack  in  dry  weather,  and  the  rain,  eating  its 
way  down  through  these  cracks,  wears  long  grooves  in  the 
softer  stone  which  it  meets  with  below.  A  cap  of  harder 
stone  usually  remains  for  a  while  on  the  top  of  the  pinnacle, 
and  protects  it  from  the  weather,  but  when  this  is  blown  or 
worn  away  the  whole  monument  crumbles  down  by  degrees. 
A  thickness  of  four  hundred  feet,  and  some  square  miles  in 
extent,  of  solid  rock  is  entirely  gone,  with  the  exception  of 
these  pinnacles  ;  but  though  worn  down  by  the  effect  of 
rain  and  weather,  it  has  been  removed  by  running  water. 


48 


CHAPTER  IV. 

DUST-MAKERS    AND    DUST-CARRIERS — RUNNING    WATER. 

Running  Water  :  the  Tools  with  which  it  Works— The.  Colorado  and  its 
Canons — Loads,  seen  and  unseen,  transported  by  Rivers — Caverns 
in  Limestone  Rocks. 

SOMETHING  more  than  three-fifths  of  the  rain  which 
falls  over  England  and  Wales  sinks  into  the  ground 
and  goes  to  feed  the  springs,  from  which,  in  dry  weather, 
except  in  the  neighbourhood  of  snow-clad  mountains,  all 
brooks,  streams,  and  rivers,  derive  their  whole  supply  01 
water.  And  as  these  increase  in  volume  the  farther  they 
flow,  it  is  evident  that  they  must  receive  supplies,  not  only 
at  their  source,  but  at  various  points  along  their  course.  The 
river  Churn,  for  instance,  starts  with  a  flow  of  eleven  cubic 
feet  of  water  per  minute ;  but  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the 
spring  head,  though  it  has  not  been  joined  by  any  visible 
tributary  streams,  the  flow  has  increased  to  thirty-one  cubic 
feet,  and  at  a  distance  of  five  miles  and  a  half  it  has  in- 
creased again  to  320  cubic  feet,  so  that  other  and  perhaps 
many  small  springs  must  have  discharged  themselves  in- 
to it. 

Now  all  running  water,  whether  it  flows  above  or  below 
ground,  has  some  power  of  wearing  away  its  channel.  Flowing 
at  the  rate  of  but  three  inches  a  second,  it  will  tear  up 
fine  clay ;  at  double  this  speed  it  will  remove  fine  sand ;  at 
twelve  inches  it  will  sweep  away  fine  gravel,  and  at  three 


EFFECT  OF  RUNNING   WATER.  49 

feet  it  will  roll  along  stones  as  big  as  an  egg  ;  while  mountain 
torrents  which  have  dwindled  to  mere  threads,  swell  in  a  few 
hours  to  such  a  size  that  they  will  carry  before  them  sand, 
mud,  rocks,  and  trees,  will  sweep  away  bridges,  and  bury 
meadows  ten  or  fifteen  feet  deep  in  rubbish. 

Then,  again,  a  mere  dribble  of  water  flowing  perpetually 
over  limestone  rocks  will,  in  time,  produce  results  such  as 
seem  to  be  quite  out  of  proportion  to  its  size  ;  and  we  may,  in 
fact,  safely  affirm  that  even  the  most  sluggish  stream  wears 
its  bed  more  or  less,  in  one  way  or  another,  either  chemically 
or  mechanically, 

It  is  when  they  are  provided  with  tools  of  just  the  right 
sort,  however,  that  streams  and  rivers  get  through  most  work 
in  the  way  of  carving  and  grinding. 

From  the  banks,  cliffs,  &c.,  between  which  they  flow, 
they  receive  constant  supplies  of  mineral  matter,  which, 
having  been  loosened  by  alternate  frost  and  thaw,  are 
washed  and  blown  into  them  by  rain  and  wind.  The  more 
rapid  the  stream,  the  more  quickly  these  contributions  are 
carried  along  and  the  harder  blows  they  give  to  the  sides  and 
bed  of  the  stream,  as  well  as  to  one  another.  The  larger 
fragments  are  rolled  along  the  bottom,  deepening  the  bed, 
wearing  off  one  another's  sharp  corners,  rounding  the  angles 
of  any  rocks  they  may  meet,  undermining  the  cliffs  and 
pounding  the  smaller  fragments  like  so  many  pestles  in 
a  mortar,  until  they  are  reduced  to  gravel,  sand,  or  mud, 
which  is  then  floated  farther  down  the  stream. 

It  is  by  the  gravel  and  sand,  though  they  look  so  much 
less  important  than  the  boulders,  that  the  river's  chief  work 
is  done  ;  but  much  depends  upon  the  inclination  of  the  bed 
E 


50  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

and  consequent  rapidity  of  the  current,  as  well  as  upon  the 
nature  of  the  rocks  with  which  it  has  to  deal. 

Even  a  small  rivulet  when  flooded  will  transport  from  one 
to  three  thousand  tons  of  gravel  in  a  day ;  and  during  the 
rainy  season  in  India,  when  every  river  and  mountain  torrent 
are  swollen,  when  for  days  and  nights  together  nothing  is 
heard  but  the  crash  of  trees  and  boulders,  and  great  masses 
of  earth  and  rock,  three  or  four  thousand  feet  in  length,  fall 
from  the  mountain  side  and  are  ground  to  sand  and  mud  in 
the  boiling  waters,  the  channel  of  every  stream,  great  and 
small,  is  enlarged,  and  enormous  quantities  of  mineral  matter 
are  carried  down  to  the  ocean.  One  river  in  Bengal  removes 
a  depth  of  ninety  feet  of  stone  and  earth  from  its  bed  every 
year,  and  the  Ganges  brings  down  in  the  same  time  more 
than  enough  solid  material  to  build  up  forty-two  Great 
Pyramids. 

The  Americans  have  a  saying  that  in  time  of  flood  the 
"Big  Muddy,"  as  they  call  the  Missouri,  is  "too  thick  to 
swim  in  and  too  thiri  to  walk  upon."  For  winter  in  the  North- 
western States  is  long  and  severe ;  the  rivers,  streams,  and 
brooks  are  all  fast  frozen,  and  the  country  is  covered  with 
colossal  heaps  of  snow,  which  sometimes  attain  well-nigh 
fabulous  dimensions.  Then  suddenly,  almost  without  warn- 
ing, comes  the  intense  heat  of  summer ;  the  streams  are  set 
free,  the  snow  is  melted  with  lightning  rapidity,  violent 
torrents  of  rain  fall,  the  brooks  are  swollen  into  rivers,  the 
rivers  into  boiling  mud-laden  floods,  which  at  once  burst 
their  bounds,  inundate  the  valleys,  overthrow  trees,  houses, 
mills,  and  sweep  away  whole  tracts  of  land  in  one  place, 
while  they  pile  up  immense  islands 'and  sand-banks  in 


CA  NON-MA  KING.  5  I 

another.  Owing  to  the  character  of  the  country  through 
which  they  flow  there  is  indeed  little  or  nothing  to  restrain 
their  progress ;  for  the  high  lands  are  either  not  wooded  at 
all,  or  so  sparsely  covered  with  trees,  that  the  river  banks 
have  but  little  power  of  resistance,  and  the  clayey,  sandy  soil 
of  the  prairies,  intersected  by  numerous  deep  rain-made 
watercourses,  is  still  less  capable  of  opposing  the  flood  of 
waters. 

It  is  when  we  look  farther  west  still,  however,  that  we  are 
perhaps  most  impressed  by  the  magnitude  of  the  work 
accomplished  by  rivers ;  for  here  they  have  to  deal  not  with 
yielding  banks  of  sand,  but  with  the  solid  rock,  which  be- 
comes a  permanent  monument  of  their  mighty  power. 

The  Colorado,  with  the  Green  River,  as  it  is  called  during 
the  first  part  of  its  course,  is  2,000  miles  long,  and  the  upper 
two-thirds  of  the  basin  which  it  drains  lie  at  a  height  of 
from  4,000  to  8,000  feet  above  the  sea,  surrounded  by 
snow-clad  mountains.  During  winter  the  snow  falls  heavily, 
filling  all  the  gorges  and  covering  all  the  hills ;  and  when 
summer  comes  and  the  great  piles  melt,  millions  of  cascades 
leap  down  from  the  rocks  on  all  sides.  "Ten  million  cas- 
cades," writes  Mr.  J.  W.  Powell,  "  rush  together  and  form  ten 
thousand  torrent-creeks ;  these  again  unite  to  form  a  hundred 
rivers  beset  with  cataracts,  and  a  hundred  roaring  rivers 
unite  to  form  the  Colorado,  which  rolls,  a  mad,  turbid 
stream,  into  the  Gulf  of  California." 

The  current  is-  at  all  times  strong  and  rapid,*  and  is 
provided  with  exactly  the  right  tools,  in  the  shape  of  mud, 

*  The  velocity  of  the  water  and  stone  in  the  Cataract  Canon  is  equal  to 
that  of  a  railway  train  going  forty  miles  an  hour. 


Fjg-  13-— THE  CATARACT  CATVON,  COLORADO. 


THE  CANONS  OF  THE  COLORADO.  53 

sand,  and  boulders,  the  last  of  which,  indeed,  while  wearing 
the  bed  of  the  river,  are  still  more  worn  themselves,  being 
finally  reduced  to  mud,  which  is  more  or  less  dissolved 
before  reaching  its  journey's  end.  But  the  sand  is  the  most 
important  tool,  and  the  river  has  used  it  to  such  purpose 
that  it  has  cut  the  rock  into  deep  gorges  or  canons  (Fig.  13), 
which  extend  throughout  more  than  1,000  miles  of  its  course, 
and  are  from  600  feet  to  more  than  a  mile  deep,  though  in 
some  parts  only  twenty  or  thirty  feet  wide.  The  great 
river,  when  viewed  from  above,  dwindles  to  a  silver  thread 
at  the  bottom  of  these  gloomy  sunless  gorges,  through  whose 
long  length  no  one  in  these  days  is  known  to  have  passed 
alive  except  the  members  of  the  exploring  expeditions  sent 
out  in  1869  and  1872,  though  horrible  tales  are  current  of  the 
sufferings  of  those  who,  having  once  taken  refuge  within 
them,  have  found  escape  well-nigh  impossible.  In  addition 
to  the  enormous  height  of  the  cliffs,  there  is  the  further 
difficulty  that  they  are  for  the  most  part  undermined,  the 
weathering  above  being  quite  unable  to  keep  pace  with  the 
rapid  working  of  the  river  below.  The  only  practicable 
points  of  exit,  therefore,  are  at  the  rare  openings  made  in 
these  giant  walls,  where  the  river  is  joined  by  its  tributaries. 

Each  tributary  of  the  Colorado,  every  branch  of  each 
tributary,  and  each  little  stream  and  rill,  has  cut  for  itself 
similar  canons  on  a  larger  or  smaller  scale,  and  hence  the 
whole  country  is  such  a  perfect  labyrinth  of  chasms,  that  it 
is  a  difficult  matter  to  choose  routes  for  railroads  and  other 
traffic. 

In  the  adjoining  state  of  New  Mexico,  similar  canons, 
some  of  them  1,000  feet  deep  have  been  cut  in  the  sandstone 


54  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

by  the  rivers  Mora  and  Canadian.  At  the  junction  of  the 
two  rivers  the  canon  was  at  one  time  860  feet  deep,  but 
was  afterwards  filled  to  a  depth  of  470  feet  by  a  stream  of 
basaltic  lava  from  a  neighbouring  volcano.  Since  those  days, 
however,  the  united  rivers  have  worked  to  such  purpose 
that  the  whole  of  the  basalt  and  230  feet  more  of  the  sand- 
stone have  been  cut  through,  making  the  gorge  now  1,090 
feet  deep.  As  a  rule,  rivers  are  more  apt  to  deepen  than  to 
widen  their  beds,  the  friction  being  greater  at  the  bottom 
than  at  the  sides  ;  and  usually  the  "  weathering"  of  the  cliffs 
or  banks,  produced  by  frost,  thaw,  wind,  rain,  or  air,  goes  on 
more  rapidly  than  the  grinding  below.  But  canon-making 
rivers  work  at  greater  speed  than  these  atmospheric  in- 
fluences, and  the  Canadian  and  Mora,  after  cutting  a  narrow 
passage  through  the  middle  of  the  lava,  went  on  to  under- 
mine it,  so  that  it  now  projects  in  a  wide  terrace  on  either 
side,  deep  down  within  the  gorge. 

The  neighbouring  river  of  La  Platte,  on  the  other  hand, 
though  its  bed  slopes  on  the  whole  as  much  as  that  of  the 
Colorado,  and  it  has  plenty  of  sand,  makes  no  such  canons, 
for  its  load  is  just  as  much  as  it  can  carry,  and  more  than  it 
can  use  with  effect ;  its  banks,  too,  are  not  hard  and  solid 
enough  to  stand  as  walls,  and  the  loose  sandstone  of  which 
they  are  composed  is  blown  or  washed  into  the  river  as  fast 
as  it  crumbles  down,  and  almost  chokes  the  stream.  Too 
little  sand,  on  the  other  hand,  will  be  swept  onwards  without 
making  any  impression,  and  it  is  when  the  quantity  is  nicely 
proportioned  to  the  force  and  volume  of  the  current  that 
the  most  striking  results  are  achieved. 

When  pieces  of  rock  are  first  broken  off,  whether  by  the 


LOADS  CARRIED  BY  RIVERS.  55 

force  of  the  stream  itself  or  the  action  of  frost,  &c.,  they  are, 
of  course,  all  angles,  and  as  these  prevent  their  rolling  along 
easily,  they  are  carried  but  a  little  way  at  first,  and  then  left 
to  be  ground  down  into  more  manageable  shapes  and  sizes. 
Smaller,  rounder  pebbles  are  carried  farther,  and  in  the  case 
of  short  rapid  rivers  are  not  dropped  until  they  reach  the 
sea ;  and  rounded  pieces  of  porous  pumice-stone  are  found 
floating  down  the  Amazons,one  and  two  thousand  miles  away 
from  the  volcanoes  Cotopaxi,  &c.,  whence  they  must  certainly 
have  come,  although  the  Brazilians,  who  use  them  to  remove 
rust  from  their  guns,  firmly  believe  them  to  be  solidified  river 
foam. 

Having  travelled  so  far,  they  would  be  pretty  sure  of 
being  floated  out  to  sea,  but  their  case  is  exceptional,  and, 
generally  speaking,  the  nearer  we  come  to  the  mouth  of 
a  river  the  finer  is  the  mineral  matter  which  it  carries,  and, 
before  it  has  finished  its  course,  its  load  has  been  so 
thoroughly  sorted  by  the  dropping  of  all  the  heavier  portions, 
one  after  the  other,  that  at  last  it  carries  nothing  but  the 
finest  mud,  which,  on  reaching  the  sea,  is  then  carried 
farther  by  waves  and  currents,  until  finally  deposited  in  the 
largest  department  of  the  world's  great  lumber  room. 

If,  however,  the  river  should  fall  into  an  almost  tideless 
sea,  such  as  the  Mediterranean,  Carribean,  or  Gulf  of 
Mexico,  much  of  the  mud,  instead  of  being  swept  away,  is 
deposited  at  its  mouth  ;  and  this  is  the  origin  of  the  tongue 
of  land  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mississippi,  and  also  of  the 
great  triangular  plain  of  Lower  Egypt  called  the  Delta, 
which,  like  all  deltas,  has  been  won  from  the  sea.  The 
Nile  has  cut  for  itself  in  the  rocky  surface  of  the  desert  a 


56  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

great  trench,  300  feet  deep  and  from  less  than  a  mile  to 
eight  miles  wide,  and  the  whole  of  this  solid  stone  it  has 
ground  into  mud.  On  an  average  it  brings  down  nearly 
131  cubic  feet  of  sediment  every  second,  so  that  it  would 
take  about  nineteen  seconds  to  fill  a  room  seventeen  feet  long, 
fifteen  wide,  and  ten  high.  Much  of  this  sediment  consists 
of  the  rich  soil  washed  down  from  the  highlands  of  Abys- 
sinia, and  to  it  Egypt  owes  her  wonderful  fertility ;  for  year 
by  year  it  is  spread  over  the  whole  surface  covered  by  the 
inundation,  renewing  the  land,  which  never  need  lie  fallow 
nor  have  any  artificial  aid  to  render  it  fertile,  though  the 
rate  of  increase  is  only  about  four  inches  and  a  half  in  a 
century. 

The  Mississippi  transports  a  larger  load  than  the  Nile, 
147  cubic  feet  per  second ;  while  the  Ganges  outdoes  them 
both,  carrying  as  much  as  557  cubic  feet. 

Compared  with  these  large  rivers,  the  Thames  seems  but 
an  infant,  yet  in  the  course  of  a  twelvemonth  it  manages  to 
carry  down  the  very  respectable  load  of  1,865,900  cubic 
feet  of  solid  matter,  and  the  Danube,  Po,  and  Rhone, 
convey  several  hundred  times  as  much. 

Since  the  greater  part  of  the  mineral  matter  carried  away 
by  rivers  is  ground  extremely  fine,  as  we  have  seen,  it  is 
quite  evident  that  most  of  it  must  be  conveyed  into  the 
ocean,  for  a  specimen  of  Rhine  water,  though  kept  perfectly 
still,  has  been  found  to  take  four  months  to  become  quite 
clear,  and  the  sediment  could  not  therefore  by  any  possi- 
bility have  time  to  settle  while  being  carried  down  by  the 
river  in  the  few  days  that  would  elapse  before  it  reached 
the  sea. 


MATTER  IN  SUSPENSION.  57 

We  find,  moreover,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  that,  while 
masses  of  rocks  miles  in  thickness  and  thousands  of  miles 
in  extent — whole  continents,  indeed — have  been  formed  in 
the  sea,  the  fresh-water  deposits  of  rivers,  lakes,  and  estuaries, 
are  to  be  reckoned  only  by  some  thousands  of  feet. 

The  Rhine,  as  we  have  seen,  drops  part  of  its  load  in 
the  comparatively  still  waters  of  Lake  Constance,  but 
though  it  emerges  thence  no  longer  muddy,  its  dark  green 
colour  shows  that  it  is  by  no  means  perfectly  filtered,  and 
the  finer  particles  are  carried  farther  still. 

But  besides  the  mud  and  those  still  finer  particles  which 
give  to  water  its  green  or  blue  tint,  rivers  carry  away  a  vast 
amount  of  mineral  matter,  which,  though  absolutely  invisible 
to  us,  is  none  the  less  important  A  very  small  pinch  of 
powdered  chalk  will,  we  know,  make  a  large  glass  of  water 
quite  milky,  while  a  handful  of  salt  will  disappear,  leaving  it 
just  as  clear  as  before.  The  chalk  is  held  in  suspension,  and 
in  time  will  settle  at  the  bottom  of  the  glass,  while  the  salt, 
being  dissolved,  or  held  in  solution,  will  not  reappear  until 
the  water  is  removed,  which  may  be  done  either  by  leaving 
it  to  evaporate  or  by  boiling.  When  sea-water  is  boiled  its 
various  salts  are  left  behind  in  the  form  of  crystals,  and  the 
steam  arising  from  it,  if  caught  and  condensed  into  water, 
will  be  found  to  be  almost  pure.  In  like  manner  the  sun 
draws  up  large  quantities  of  almost  pure  water  from  the 
ocean,  leaving  the  salts  behind. 

It  is  very  evident  that  rivers  are  most  heavily  laden  with 
sediment  either  during  the  rainy  season,  when  large  quanti- 
ties of  mineral  matter,  loosened  by  various  agents,  are  washed 
down  from  their  banks,  or  when  the  snow  is  melting  on  the 


58  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

mountains  and  rushing  down  in  numberless  torrents  to  the 
valleys.  It  is  when  the  snows  melt  that  the  Rhine  is  at  its 
fullest  and  muddiest,  and  often  causes  the  waters  of  Lake 
Constance  to  rise  as  much  as  a  foot  in  twenty-four  hours, 
and  the  mineral  which  it  chiefly  conveys  is  carbonate  of 
lime,  which  constitutes  more  than  a  third  of  the  deposit  left 
in  the  lake.  On  leaving  the  lake,  the  Rhine  again  passes 
through  miles  of  limestone,  as  do  also  its  tributaries,  and 
yet  the  sediment  which  it  finally  takes  to  the  ocean  con- 
tains little  or  none.  It  does  carry  it,  indeed — that  we  may 
be  sure  of — and  in  considerable  quantities,  too,  but  not  as 
visible  sediment,  for  it  has  been  dissolved  by  the  carbonic 
acid  of  the  water  and  thus  rendered  invisible 

Up  to  the  time  when  it  reaches  the  lake,  the  course  of 
the  river  is  so  rapid  and  tumultuous  that  the  carbonic  acid 
has  but  little  chance  of  doing  anything,  and  the  powdered 
limestone  is  simply  carried  down  as  sediment  thus  far.  On 
leaving  the  lake,  however,  the  river  has  a  long  course  before 
it,  and  when  it  reaches  the  sea  all  the  carbonate  of  lime 
which  itself  and  its  various  tributaries  have  collected,  and 
even  all  that  is  washed  into  it  in  time  of  flood,  has  been  so 
completely  dissolved  that  we  should  not  be  aware  of  its 
presence  but  for  the  hardness  it  has  given  to  the  water. 

Next  to  carbonate  of  lime,  the  mineral  which  is  carried 
down  to  the  sea  in  the  largest  quantity  is  sulphate  of  lime, 
which  never  fails  entirely  except  in  the  case  of  a  few  small 
rivers.  But  we  shall  gain  a  better  idea  of  the  amount  of 
mineral  matter  removed  by  the  rivers  when  we  come  to  see 
what  is  done  with  it ;  meanwhile  we  may  mention,  for  those 
who  like  statistics,  that  such  rivers  as  the  Danube,  Rhine, 


MATTER  IN  SOLUTION.  59 

Rhone,  and  Elbe,  would,  in  the  course  of  8,000  years,  have 
conveyed  away  in  solution  an  amount  of  mineral  matter 
equal  in  weight  to  the  whole  quantity  of  water  discharged  by 
them  in  a  year. 

In  India  the  various  dissolved  carbonates  contained  in 
the  river-water  are  a  source  of  some  perplexity  to  the  culti- 
vators of  the  soil ;  for  as  rain  falls  only  at  certain  seasons, 
and  there  are  often  long  periods  of  drought,  large  sums  have 
been  expended  in  conveying  water  to  the  fields  by  means  of 
a  system  of  irrigation,  and  now  that  this  has  been  done,  it 
is  found  that  the  land  in  some  parts  has  been  rendered 
actually  unfit  for  cultivation  by  the  large  amount  of  mineral 
matter  conveyed  in  the  water,  and  the  question  is  how  to 
get  rid  of  it  again. 

When  considering  the  dissolved  minerals  carried  away  by 
water,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  they  are  not,  like  the  sedi- 
ment, taken  only,  or  even  chiefly,  from  the  bed  of  the  river 
and  the  banks  between  which  it  flows.  On  the  contrary, 
they  are  drawn  from  far  and  wide,  from  the  whole  area,  in 
fact,  which  the  river  drains.  For  the  rain,  as  it  soaks  through 
the  earth,  dissolves  something  of  every  bed  through  which 
it  passes*  :  the  springs,  as  they  flow  under  ground,  often  by 
very  complicated  channels,  do  the  same  ;  and,  in  fact,  the 
whole  network  of  streams,  large  and  small,  above  or  below 
ground,  by  which  every  river  of  any  size  is  fed,  all  con- 
tribute their  share  of  dissolved  mineral  matter,  and  are 
most  strongly  impregnated  just  when  their  waters  are  most 

*  About  100  tons  of  mineral  matter  are  said  to  be  annually  dissolved 
per  square  mile,  all  over  the  world ;  of  this  about  half  is  carbonate  of 
lime. 


60  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

transparently  clear,  that  is  in  time  of  drought,  when  the 
rivers  are  fed  almost  entirely  by  springs  alone. 

The  Thames,  with  its  estuary,  receives  the  drainings  of 
10,000  square  miles;  the  Severn,  of  8,580;  the  Colorado 
of  some  300,000 ;  and  the  mighty  Amazons,  the  "  Mediter- 
ranean of  the  West,"  of  2,048,000.  It  is  because  it  is  taken 
from  such  wide  areas  that  the  large  amount  of  rock  annually 
removed  and  carried  off  to  the  sea  makes  so  little  apparent 
difference.  Thus,  more  than  8,000,000  tons  are  invisibly 
removed  from  England  and  Wales  alone  each  year,  and  if 
this  were  taken  equally  from  every  part  of  the  surface,  it 
would  be  nearly  thirteen  years  before  a  foot  in  depth  was 
carried  away.  Slowly,  but  surely,  however,  all  land  traversed 
by  streams,  of  whatever  size,  is  being  worn  down  and  con- 
veyed to  the  ocean  ;  and  where  the  rocks  are  of  chalk  or 
limestone,  the  work  done  is  often  perceptible  enough. 

The  rivers  of  the  Teutoburger  Wald  and  Haar,  for  in- 
stance, annually  take  away  more  carbonate  of  lime  than 
would  make  a  cube  measuring  100  feet  each  way  ;  and  in 
sixty-seven  days  the  Pader  springs  carry  off  enough  to  build 
a  cone  150  feet  in  diameter  and  twenty-four  feet  deep  ;  one 
result  of  which  is  that  landslips  and  subsidences  are  of  con- 
stant occurrence  in  their  vicinity. 

Scattered  about  on  the  table-lands  of  Wiltshire  and  Dor- 
set are  accumulations  of  flints,  sometimes  several  feet  thick, 
which  once  formed  beds  separated  one  from  the  other  by 
many  feet  of  chalk,  which  has  long  since  been  dissolved 
and  carried  away;  and  in  many  parts  of  the  world  vast 
caverns  have  been  hollowed  out  in  the  rocks  by  the  agency 
of  water  and  carbonic  acid  alone. 


LIMESTONE  CAVERNS.  61 

In  Styria  there  is  a  wild  desolate  region,  where  the  rocks 
are  so  porous  that  every  drop  of  rain  at  once  passes  through 
them,  and  the  surface  is  so  dry  that  hardly  any  green  thing 
will  grow.  Down  below,  however,  the  scene  is  one  of  great 
beauty,  for  here  are  the  famous  Adelsberg  caverns,  halls 
excavated  in  the  limestone,  some  of  which  are  more  than 
250  feet  long,  and  lofty  in  proportion,  their  richly-sculptured 
roofs  being  supported  by  elaborately  carved  pillars,  while 
many  are  adorned  with  statues,  obelisks,  clustered  columns, 
birds,  beasts,  trees,  plants,  &c.,  all  apparently  chiselled  out 
of  pure  white  marble,  though  the  only  tools  used  have  been 
water  and  carbonic  acid. 

These  two  have  dissolved  the  rock  as  they  passed  through 
it,  and  then  evaporating,  have  deposited  the  carbonate  01 
lime  again  in  these  various  forms,  sometimes  as  stalactites 
of  every  size  and  shape,  which  hang  from  the  roof  like 
icicles,  sometimes  as  cement,  joining  together  broken  frag- 
ments of  rock  ;  sometimes,  falling  to  the  ground,  they  have 
built  up  wonderful  stalagmitic  columns,  which  vary  from  a 
few  inches  to  several  feet  in  diameter,  and  at  others  they 
have  covered  the  walls  with  what  look  like  festoons  of 
drapery,  while  in  one  place  they  have  woven  a  curtain  about 
ten  feet  long  and  only  an  inch  thick,  which  hangs  in  the 
most  graceful  folds  and  seems  to  wave  gently  to  and  fro,  as 
the  light  from  the  guide's  lamp  falls  on  it  from  above. 

All  these  various  forms  of  ornament  are  due  to  the 
chemical  action  of  water  charged  with  carbonic  acid,  by 
means  of  which  some  of  the  carbonate  of  lime  removed 
from  above  has  here  been  re-deposited ;  but  the  long,  lofty 
caverns,  which  extend  for  miles,  have  no  doubt  been 


62  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

excavated  by  the  mechanical  action  of  the  Poik,  which  at 
one  part  of  its  course  disappears  through  an  opening  in  the 
earth,  and  flowing  underground  for  several  miles,  passes 
through  one  of  the  great  halls  just  described  on  its  way. 

In  South  Australia  there  is  a  series  of  limestone  caverns, 
one  of  which  has  the  appearance  of  an  immense  Gothic 
cathedral,  the  roof  being  apparently  supported  by  one  huge 
stalactite,  tinted  with  almost  every  shade  of  colour,  while 
the  area  is  occupied  by  numerous  half-finished  stalagmites, 
which  look,  in  the  dim  light,  like  kneeling  worshippers. 
The  stalactites  in  each  cavern  seem  to  possess  a  distinct 
character  of  their  own,  and  differ  one  from  the  other  as  much 
as  do  the  leaves  of  the  forest. 

In  one  of  the  Bermuda  caves  there  are  grand  stalag- 
mitic  columns  reaching  from  floor  to  roof,  one  of  which  is 
beautifully  fluted  and  fretted  with  stalactites,  and  measures 
sixty  feet  in  circumference ;  in  another  the  stalactites  hang- 
ing from  the  roof  are  perfectly  white,  some  of  them  as  fine 
as  knitting-needles,  and  often  yards  long ;  while,  wherever 
there  is  a  continuous  crack  in  the  roof,  there  descends  from 
it  a  graceful,  soft-looking,  white  curtain. 

Of  all  the  limestone  caves  hitherto  discovered,  however, 
the  most  extensive  is  the  Mammoth  Cave,  of  Kentucky, 
which,  with  its  226  avenues  branching  out  from  the  main 
gallery,  is  computed  to  have  a  total  length  of  about  160  miles. 

But  our  chief  point  now  is,  that,  whether  excavated  by 
chemical  or  mechanical  means,  or  by  both,  the  vast  quanti- 
ties of  limestone  which  once  filled  such  caverns  have  been 
carried  away  to  the  ocean  by  the  springs,  streams,  and 
rivers,  which  permeate  and  overspread  the  earth. 


CHAPTER    V. 

DUST-MAKERS    AND    DUST-CARRIERS  -  GLACIERS    AND 
ICEBERGS. 

Floating  Ice  —  Glaciers  :  the  Loads  they  Carry,  their  Tools,  how  they  Cut, 
Scratch,  and  Polish  —  Stone-meal  —  Fjords  Engraved  by  Glaciers  — 
Glaciers  in  England  —  Glacial  Dust-heaps—  When  the  Great  Thaw 
came  —  Icebergs  as  Dust-carriers  —  The  great  Distances  they  Travel. 


UNNING  water,  as  we  have  seen,  can  do  much  in  the 
-T\.  way  of  wearing  down  rocks,  and  transporting  heavy 
loads  ;  but  frozen  water  can  do  still  more,  and  a  river  filled 
with  miniature  icebergs,  or  broken  sheets  of  ice,  possesses 
tremendous  powers  of  destruction. 

When  the  ice  broke  up  on  the  Danube  a  few  springs  ago, 
such  great  masses  were  hurried  along  by  the  tumultuous, 
swollen  waters,  and  were  hurled  with  such  terrific  force 
against  anything  that  came  in  their  way,  that  the  closed  gates 
of  a  canal  were  burst  open,  and  a  solid  wall  of  masonry, 
seven  feet  thick  and  2  50  feet  long,  was  speedily  and  entirely 
overthrown. 

Ice  being  lighter  than  water,  is  easily  borne  along,  even 
by  a  feeble  current,  and  although  when  loaded  with  sand, 
pebbles,  and  bits  of  rock,  it  may  be  too  heavy  to  be  carried 
on  the  surface,  it  will  still  float  down  the  stream  without 
difficulty. 

When  the  ice  breaks  up  on  the  St.  Lawrence,  the  huge 


64  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

slabs  pile  themselves  one  on  the  other,  until  a  pack  many 
feet  high  is  formed,  which  not  only  forces  along  great 
boulders  and  blocks  of  stone  some  tons  in  weight,  but  also 
breaks  huge  fragments  from  thirty  to  fifty  feet  square  from 
the  cliffs,  wharves,  and  stone  buildings  between  which  it 
passes. 

It  is  not  often  that  the  Thames  is  even  nearly  frozen 
over ;  but  a  few  winters  ago  it  was  for  some  days  full  ot 
broken  ice,  among  which  were  fragments  covered  on  the 
under  side  with  gravel,  as  if  they  had  been  formed  in  the 
bed  of  the  river,  and  had  then  floated  to  the  surface.  In 
many  of  the  Siberian  rivers  large  stones  are  very  commonly 
found  thus  embedded,  and  are  carried  down  by  the  ice  in 
considerable  quantities. 

We  were  explaining,  a  chapter  or  two  back,  how  it  was 
that  ice  was  formed,  not  at  the  bottom,  but  on  the  surface 
of  water ;  but  ice  cannot  easily  form  on  a  running  stream, 
owing  to  the  constant  motion,  which  is  greatest  on  the  sur- 
face and  in  the  centre  of  the  current.  Then,  too,  the  whole 
body  of  water,  being  kept  in  constant  agitation,  becomes  so 
thoroughly  mixed  that  the  temperature  is  the  same  throughout, 
and  when  it  falls  to  o°  C.  (32°  Fahr.),  the  comparative  still- 
ness in  the  bed  of  the  river,  and  the  contact  with  the  cold 
surface  of  rocks  and  pebbles,  enable  the  ice  to  form  there, 
and  in  the  warm  sun  it  floats  to  the  surface  with  whatever 
may  be  adhering  to  it.  In  the  small  tributaries  of  the 
Thames,  vast  numbers  of  pebbles,  and  even  stones  a  foot  in 
diameter,  are  carried  away  by  ground-ice,  and  other  rivers 
transport  still  larger  quantities  in  this  way. 

If  all  ice  formed  thus  at  the  bottom  of  the  water,  our 


FORMATION  OF  CLOUDS.  65 

lakes  and  rivers  would  be  perpetually  frozen,  as  has  been 
said ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  without  those  rivers  of  solid  ice, 
which  we  call  glaciers,  there  would  in  time  be  neither  lakes 
nor  rivers,  nor  even  seas  and  oceans. 

The  hot  air  of  the  tropics  is  constantly  drinking  up  many 
millions  of  tons  of  water,  and  if  none  were  restored  to  it 


Fig.  14.— SNOW  CRYSTALS. 

again,  the  whole  surface  of  the  ocean  would  be  lowered 
about  eight  or  ten  feet  every  year,  and  in  time  must  be 
utterly  exhausted.  But  the  water  thus  taken  up  and  trans- 
ported thousands  of  miles  by  the  currents  of  the  air  con- 
denses into  rain  clouds  or  snow  clouds,  according  as  the  tem- 
perature which  it  encounters  is  above  or  below  freezing  point, 
and  after  a  longer  or  shorter  journey,  is  poured  back  into 
the  ocean  by  the  rivers. 

Snow  consists  of  crystals  of  ice  (Fig.   14),  which  look 
F 


66  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

white*  only  because  they  do  not  lie  perfectly  close  ;  for  when 
the  air  is  squeezed  out  they  adhere  together  and  form  a  lump  of 
transparent  ice.  The  snow  which  collects  on  the  heel  of  one's 
boot  is  converted  into  ice  by  pressure ;  and  the  vast  quanti- 
ties of  snow  which  fall  and  accumulate  among  the  mountains 
are  similarly  converted  into  ice  by  their  own  weight,  which 
also  causes  them  to  creep  slowly  down  the  mountain  sides 
into  the  valleys,  where  the  warmer  air  changes  them  once 
more  into  water.  If  the  glaciers,  as  these  rivers  of  ice  are 
called,  remained  stationary  high  up  among  the  mountains, 
they  would  go  on  increasing  in  thickness  year  by  year,  as 
they  received  fresh  additions  of  snow,  and  year  by  year,  as 
its  waters  were  locked  up  in  the  form  of  ice,  instead  of  being 
returned  to  it,  the  ocean  would  sink  lower  and  lower. 

Glaciers,  then,  may  be  called  rivers  of  ice,  but  unlike 
other  rivers,  they  are  able  to  move  uphill  as  well  as  down, 
and  while  at  one  time  they  descend  into  deep  basins,  at 
another  they  ascend  hills  several  hundred  feet  high.  Their 
rate  of  motion  is  very  slow,  and  slower  in  winter  than  in 
summer,  being  sometimes  only  a  few  inches,  and  sometimes 
two  feet  or  more  in  the  course  of  the  day,  but  it  never  ceases 
entirely  (Fig.  15). 

The  fresh  additions  of  snow  which  it  is  constantly  receiv- 
ing at  its  upper  end  are  for  ever  pushing  it  on,  urging  it 
down  the  steep  slopes  and  more  slowly  up  the  hills,  and  the 
motion  is  helped  by  the  expansion  and  contraction  of 
the  ice  with  each  variation  of  temperature,  day  and  night, 
summer  and  winter.  Every  time  it  expands  it  must  creep 
onward,  be  it  ever  so  little,  and  when  it  contracts  again  it 

*  Powdered  glass  looks  white  for  the  same  reason, 


MOTION  OF  GLACIERS. 


Fig.  15.— THE  MER  DE  GLACE,  SWITZERLAND. 

cannot  retreat  up  the   slope  against  the  enormous  weight 
always  pressing  it  downwards  and  onwards. 

Then,  too,  it  seems  probable  that  the  freezing  and  con- 
sequent expansion  of  the  molecules  of  water,  which  must 
drain  into  it  whenever  the  surface  is  ever  so  slightly  melted, 
also  help  to  urge  the  glacier  onward. 


68  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

The  glacier's  motion,  like  that  of  a  river,  is  greatest  on 
the  surface,  and  greater  in  the  middle  than  at  the  sides ;  and 
what  with  the  strain  resulting  from  this  unequal  motion,  and 
the  extremely  rough  uneven  character  of  its  bed,  its  surface 
is  also  rough,  and  rent  with  cracks  and  fissures  of  all  sizes, 
from  a  few  inches  to  several  feet  across. 

Looking  down  upon  it  from  a  height,  we  should  generally 
see  on  either  side  the  glacier  a  dark  line,  which,  on  closer 
examination,  would  prove  to  be  a  mound  of  fragments,  large 
and  small,  and  huge  blocks,  many  tons  in  weight,  which 
have  fallen  from  the  cliffs  and  mountains  bounding  it  on 
either  side,  and  are  thus  being  gradually  carried  down 
into  the  valley.  Thousands  of  tons  of  rock  and  rubbish  are 
continually  falling  from  the  heights  above ;  and  when  two 
glaciers  meet,  as  not  unfrequently  happens,  the  two  nearest 
"moraines,"  as  these  rubbish  mounds  are  called,  join  together 
and  form  a  central  moraine,  often  twenty  or  thirty  feet 
high.  The  three  moraines  then  travel  on  together  to  the 
end  of  the  glacier,  where  the  ice  melts  and  drops  them, 
forming  a  "  terminal  moraine,"  perhaps  eighty  or  100  feet 
high. 

But  glaciers,  like  rivers,  are  "  dust-makers,"  as  well  as 
"  dust-carriers,"  for  the  joints  which  exist  in  all  rocks,  in  a 
greater  or  less  degree,  make  it  easy  both  for  running  water 
and  ice  to  force  the  blocks  out  of  their  places  ;  and  then, 
besides  the  immense  heaps  of  rubbish  which  the  glacier 
carries  on  its  surface,  large  quantities  also  fall  into  its  cracks 
and  fissures,  and,  being  jammed  in  between  the  ice  and  its 
bed,  are  pressed  against  the  rocks  by  all  the  weight  of  the 
mass  above.  These  fragments  of  stone  are,  in  fact,  the 


THE  GLACIER'S  TOOLS.  69 

glacier's  tools,  which  it  holds  fast  with  more  than  a  giant's 
grip  and  strength,  and  with  which  it  either  smooths  and 
rounds  the  rocks  over  which  it  passes,  or  else  scores  them 
'with  deep  grooves  and  ruts. 

In  the  summer,  when  the  glacier  shrinks  away  from  the 
sides  of  its  bed,  it  is  possible  to  creep  in  below  the  ice  and 
to  see  both  the  long  scratches  made  on  the  rocks  and  how 
finely  these  have  been  smoothed  and  polished  by  the  sand, 
mud,  and  smaller  stones,  which  result  from  the  perpetual 
grinding  of  this  mighty  millstone. 

Some  of  the  great  Arctic  glaciers,  which  are  often  two  or 
three  thousand  feet  thick,  must  exert  enormous  pressure  on 
the  blocks  and  sharp-edged  fragments  of  stone  imprisoned 
beneath  them,  and  their  beds  are  accordingly  in  some  places 
as  smooth  as  a  polished  agate,  and  in  others  are  covered  with 
grooves,  which  in  time  become  deep  furrows. 

Streams  of  water  flow  beneath  every  glacier,  and  gushing 
forth  at  its  foot,  densely  charged  with  the  finest  mud,  form 
the  source  of  many  a  river  ;  but  the  pebbles  conveyed  by  a 
glacier  stream  differ  from  those  of  other  streams,  in  that  they 
are  usually  angular ;  and  the  glacier  is  not  nearly  such  a 
neat  workman  as  the  river,  for  instead  of  sorting  its  load, 
dropping  the  large  pebbles  here,  the  smaller  there,  the  gravel 
in  one  place  and  the  fine  sand  in  another,  the  glacier  just 
drops  its  immense  piles  of  sand,  grit,  stones,  huge  slabs  and 
rocks  all  together,  and  heaps  them  up  anyhow  into  one  great 
mound. 

In  other  respects  the  action  of  the  glacier  is  so  like  that 
of  the  river  that,  but  for  the  peculiar  tokens  of  its  presence 
in  the  shape  of  rounded,  scratched,  and  polished  rocks,  there 


70  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

would  often  be  some  difficulty  in  deciding  which  of  the  two 
had  been  at  work. 

Some  of  the  creeks  of  South  Australia,  for  instance, 
which  have  perpendicular  walls  of  tremendous  height,  bear 
so  strong  a  resemblance  to  the  fjords  of  Norway  and  South 
America,  that,  but  for  the  absence  of  these  tokens,  one  might 
suppose  them  to  have  been  excavated  by  the  same  workman. 
The  Australian  fjords,  however,  are  really  canons,  and  are 
due  to  the  action  of  rivers  and  torrents,  whereas  the  true 
fjord  has  been  carved  by  ice. 

The  perpetual  grinding  of  the  glacier  mill-stone  against 
the  rocks  which  produces  the  "stone-meal,"  as  it  is  called, 
naturally  deepens  its  bed  year  by  year ;  and  in  the  course  of 
centuries,  if  the  supply  of  snow  continues,  it  will  scoop  out 
deep  channels  with  perpendicular  cliffs.  Then,  if  such  a 
change  of  climate  should  take  place  as  has  occurred  many 
times  in  the  earth's  history,  the  glacier  will  either  melt  away 
altogether  or  shrink  higher  up  among  the  mountains,  and 
its  former  bed  will  become  a  valley  with,  perhaps,  a  glacier 
stream  running  at  the  bottom,  and  here  and  there  some  of 
the  rounded  rocks,  which,  from  their  fancied  resemblance  to 
sheep,  the  Swiss  call  "  roches  moutonmes"  (Fig.  16). 

But  if  the  glacier  terminated  on  the  coast  instead  of  in- 
land, something  else  might  happen  ;  for  if  the  land  sank — 
a  thing  which  has  often  taken  place — then,  as  the  glacier 
retreated,  the  sea  would  flow  in  and  occupy  its  bed,  and  in- 
stead of  a  valley  there  would  be  a  fjord.  The  wonderful 
series  of  fjords  by  which  the  coast  of  Norway  is  broken,  and 
those  of  Patagonia,  British  Columbia,  Greenland,  Kerguelen 
Land,  &c.,  have  all  been  thus  slowly  engraved  by  glaciers. 


THE  GLACIAL  PERIOD.  71 

During  what  is  known  as  the  Glacial  Period,  a  time  when 
the  climate  of  the  Arctic  regions  seems  to  have  prevailed  over 
the  greater  part  of  the  earth,  enormous  glaciers,  whose  mo- 
raines still  exist,  stretched  from  Patagonia  across  Brazil  to 
Pernambuco,  and  as  far  as  the  equator.  Traces  of  large 


Fig.  16. — SHEEP  ROCKS. 

glaciers  have  been  found  also  in  Nicaragua,  and,  indeed, 
great  part  of  both  hemispheres  was  covered  not  merely  with 
glaciers,  but  with  an  ice-cap,  such  as  is  now  confined  to  Polar 
latitudes.  During  that  wintry  time  England,  too,  had  her 
snow  mountains,  and  was  for  the  most  part  covered  with 
ice.  Certainly  her  valleys  were  occupied  by  glaciers,  one 
of  which  extended  from  Lincolnshire  to  within  a  few  miles 
of  London,  and,  gathering  up  specimens  of  the  various 


72  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

rocks  over  and  between  which  it  passed,  dropped  them  in  a 
heap  at  Muswell  Hill  and  Finchley. 

Glacial  drift  of  this  kind  has  been  found  all  over  the 
northern  part  of  Europe  and  America,  and  one  of  the 
huge  old  glaciers  which  then  descended  from  Mont 
Blanc,  filling  the  whole  valley  of  Aosta,  a  hundred  miles 
in  length,  has  left  behind  it  a  "  dust-heap,"  or  moraine, 
which  is  1,600  feet  high,  and  measures  sixty  miles  in  cir- 
cumference. 

What  was  the  effect  upon  the  ocean  of  the  withdrawal 
and  locking  up  of  this  vast  quantity  of  water  can  only  be 
guessed ;  but  its  depth  must  certainly  have  been  reduced 
considerably,  some  say  by  600  feet,  and  some  by  as  many 
as  1,000. 

And  when  the  great  thaw  came,  and  the  water  was  set 
free,  there  is  good  reason  to  believe  that  at  least  one  continent 
was  not  merely  inundated,  but  altogether  swallowed  up, 
and  that  what  we  call  the  West  Indian  Islands  are  really 
just  the  highlands  and  mountain  tops  of  an  unknown 
region  which  then  disappeared  beneath  the  waves,  and  may 
have  given  rise  to  the  various  fables  about  the  beautiful 
enchanted  land  beneath  the  sea,  which  is  variously  known 
as  Atlantis,  Tir-na-n-oge,  &c. 

We  have  still  to  say  something  about  icebergs  as  dust, 
carriers. 

True  icebergs,  according  to  Professor  Nordenskjold, 
are  those  which  rise  more  than  300  feet  out  of  the  water, 
and  are  found  only  where  the  bed  of  the  glacier  is  so  steep 
and  uneven,  and  its  motion  so  rapid,  that  it  is  really  split  up 
into  bergs  long  before  it  reaches  the  sea  (Fig.  17).  Even  the 


ARCTIC  GLACIERS. 


73 


great  Humboldt  glacier  of  Greenland,  which  is  sixty  miles 
broad  and  ends  in  a  cliff  of  ice  300  feet  high,  could  not 
send  out  such  icebergs  as  these,  for  every  foot  of  ice  above 
the  water  must  be  balanced  by  from  seven  to  nine  feet 
below  it,  so  that  the  whole  height  of  an  iceberg  showing 


Fig.  17.— DIAGRAM  OF  THE  "  INLANDS  ICE,"  GREENLAND,  EXTENDING 

INTO    THE   SEA,    AND    ENDING    IN    A    STEEP    FALL    FROM     IOO    TO 
203    FEET     HIGH,     FROM    WHICH     ICEBERGS     ARE     BREAKING    OFF. 

(After  Nordenskjold.) 

300  feet,  might  be  between  2,000  and  3,000  feet.  There 
are,  however,  glaciers  in  the  Far  North  which  are  quite 
capable  of  sending  out  mountains  of  ice  of  this  size ;  and 
as,  owing  to  the  extreme  severity  of  the  climate,  which  no 
rock  can  withstand,  the  Arctic  glaciers  are  usually  very 
heavily  laden,  those  icebergs  which  break  from  the  corners, 
must  often  carry  away  large  loads  of  rubbish. 

Yet  it  is  said  that,  though  sometimes  loaded  with  beds 
of  earth  and    rock,   weighing,  as   has    been    conjectured, 


74  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

from  50,000  to  100,000  tons,  generally  speaking,  Arctic 
bergs  carry  no  load;  and  of  the  numerous  icebergs 
encountered  by  the  Challenger  in  the  Southern  Seas — as 
many  as  forty  being  on  one  occasion,  visible  at  once — not 
one  in  a  thousand  seemed  to  be  carrying  even  mud.  It 
must  be  remembered,  however,  that  but  a  small  part  of  an 
iceberg  is  visible,  even  when  it  consists  of  nothing  but  ice, 
and  the  more  heavily  it  is  loaded  the  deeper  it  must  float  \ 
besides  which,  large  quantities  of  fragments,  and  even  great 
rocks,  might  be  concealed  in  the  upper  part  of  the  bergs  by 
the  heavy  falls  of  snow  which  they  frequently  receive  after 
setting  out  on  their  voyages. 

It  is  certain,  however,  that  icebergs  do  act  as  "dust- 
carriers,"  for  besides  the  fact  that  gigantic  boulders  are  at 
times  seen  embedded  in  them,  fragments  of  rock  have  been 
dredged  up  from  the  bed  of  the  ocean,  which  could  have 
been  brought  there  only  by  floating  ice. 

Besides  the  monsters  to  which  some  people  would 
restrict  the  term  iceberg,  there  are  other  floating  masses  of 
ice  which  vary  from  a  few  yards  to  a  mile  in  circumference, 
and  sometimes  far  exceed  these  dimensions  (Fig.  18). 

On  the  coast  of  Tierra  del  Fuego,  where  almost  every 
arm  of  the  sea  for  630  miles  terminates  in  "  tremendous 
and  astonishing  glaciers,"  the  crash  which  they  make  as 
they  break  off  into  the  sea,  is  like  the  "  broadside  of  a 
man  o'  war,"  and  in  Eyre's  Sound  Mr.  Darwin  saw  as  many 
as  fifty  bergs  floating  away  at  once,  one  having  a  total 
height  of  at  least  168  feet,  and  some  being  loaded  with 
blocks  of  considerable  size.  In  the  southern  seas,  masses 
of  ice  from  a  mile  to  seven  or  ten  in  length  are  met  with, 


ICEBERGS  AND  ANCHOR  ICE. 


75 


and  in  1854  an  enormous  group  of  icebergs  was  seen, 
locked  together  and  forming  a  great  hook  sixty  miles  long 
and  forty  broad,  no  part  of  which,  however,  rose  more 
than  300  feet  above  the  sea. 


Fig.  18.— BROKEN-UP  BERGS. 

Besides  the  icebergs  born  of  glaciers,  there  are  others 
of  a  different  origin,  for  the  sea  itself  often  freezes  in  the 
Arctic  regions,  along  the  base  of  the  lofty  cliffs,  where  the 
water  is  less  salt,  owing  to  the  large  quantities  of  snow 
which  drift  into  it  from  the  shore.  At  low  water  the  ice 
thus  formed  often  freezes  to  the  bottom,  whence  it  is 


76  THE  WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

called  "  anchor  "  ice,  and  remains  there  glued  even  when 
the  tide  rises,  growing  thicker  and  thicker.  When  at  last 
it  floats  away,  it  is  sufficiently  massive  to  carry  with  it,  not 
only  large  quantities  of  boulders  and  stones,  but  also  the 
anchors,  cables,  &c.,  of  the  fishermen,  which  have  chanced 
to  be  embedded  in  it. 

Sometimes,  where  the  water  is  deeper,  these  flat  masses 
of  ice,  though  prevented  by  the  rise  and  fall  of  the  tide 
from  adhering  to  the  shore,  yet  remain  near  enough  to 
receive  drifts  of  snow  and  the  waste  from  the  cliffs,  and 
frequently  grow  into  islands  many  leagues  in  length  and  of 
great  thickness. 

Icebergs  often  travel  long  distances  before  they  melt 
away.  Those  from  Baffin's  Bay  come  as  far  south  as  the 
Azores,  and  those  from  the  south  come  within  a  short 
distance  of  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  so  that  a  large  area 
of  the  sea-bottom  must  be  strewn  with  the  loads  they  drop 
annually,  and  should  it  ever  rise  to  the  surface,  will  be 
found  covered  with  "  drift,"  consisting  of  gravel,  stones, 
and  boulders,  which  have  no  connection  with  the  rocks  on 
which  they  rest,  and  are  scattered  about  helter-skelter, 
with  no  more  attempt  at  sorting  or  stratification  than  if 
they  had  been  "  shot  "  from  so  many  dust-carts. 

To  a  small  extent,  icebergs  are  dust-makers  as  well  as 
carriers,  for  when  they  strand,  they  groove  and  polish  the 
rocks  in  true  glacier  style,  and,  off  North  America,  they 
push  pebbles  and  sand  before  them,  leaving  the  submarine 
rocks  quite  bare. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

DUST-MAKERS — EARTHQUAKES    AND    VOLCANOES. 

How  Sea  and  Land  have  changed  Places— The  History  of  the  Petrified 
Firs — Perpetual  Motion-  Subterranean  Heat— Earthquakes  and  Earth- 
quake-waves— Wear  and  Tear — Volcanoes,  their  Ash  and  Dust  Heaps — 
Double  Work  done  by  Earthquakes  and  Volcanoes — Hot  Springs — 
Mammoth  Springs. 

WE  referred  in  the  last  chapter  to  the  possible  rise 
of  the  bed  of  the  Atlantic  (p.  7  6),  at  some  future 
period,  above  the  waves,  and  we  have  now  to  see  how  this 
might  be  brought  about. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  sea  and  land  have  many 
times  changed  places,  and  that  by  far  the  greater  part  of 
the  rocks  composing  the  earth's  crust  must,  from  their 
character,  have  been  formed  under  water. 

It  has  also  been  ascertained  by  careful  observation 
that,  at  the  present  time,  Norway  and  Sweden  are  quietly 
rising  higher  and  higher  out  of  the  German  Ocean,  at  the 
rate  of  three  feet  in  a  century ;  and  on  the  eastern  coast  of 
South  America  there  are  large  beds  of  shells  which  have  been 
raised,  some  a  few  feet  only,  others  as  many  as  three  or 
four  hundred  feet  above  the  sea,  in  what  geologists  would 
call  "  quite  modern  times ; "  while  at  Santa  Cruz  a  rise 
of  at  least  1,400  feet  has  taken  place  since  the  time  when 
the  great  boulders  with  which  the  plains  are  dotted  were 
dropped  by  glaciers  or  icebergs. 


78  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

On  the  western  coast  of  America  the  evidence  as  to 
the  way  in  which  sea  and  land  have  changed  places  is  even 
more  striking,  and  shows  that  the  vast  mountain  chain, 
variously  called  the  Cordillera,  Andes,  and  Rocky  Moun- 
tains, which  apparently  stretches  in  an  unbroken  line  from 
Tierra  del  Fuego  to  the  Arctic  Circle,  with  pinnacles  here 
and  there  reaching  a  height  of  20,000  feet,  has  risen  and 
sunk  again  certainly  once,  and  almost  certainly  twice,  in 
the  course  of  its  history. 

In  the  Uspallata  range,  which  is  separated  by  a  narrow 
plain  from  the  main  mass  of  the  Cordillera,  there  stands 
a  group  of  snowy-white  columns,  a  few  feet  high,  which 
have  a  weird,  ghostly  look  about  them,  and  are  evidently 
the  trunks  of  trees  which  have  been  petrified  and  con- 
verted, some  into  flint,  and  others  into  coarsely-crystallised 
spar.  Now,  these  stone  fir-trees  have  had  a  wonderful 
history.  They  must,  of  course,  have  grown  upon  dry  land, 
but  below  them  are  several  thousand  feet  of  rock,  which 
could  have  been  formed  only  under  water;  therefore  the 
land  hereabouts  must  gradually  have  sunk  lower  and  lower, 
until  it  was  many  thousand  feet  below  the  .surface  of  the 
sea.  Then,  when  these  new  beds  had  been  formed,  it  rose 
again,  and  when  the  soil  had  been  prepared  for  them,  a 
beautiful  group  of  trees  sprang  up  and  flourished  on  the 
shore  of  the  Atlantic,  which  then  washed  the  foot  of  the 
mountains,  though  it  is  now  700  miles  away.  The  trees 
grew  to  maturity,  and  then  the  land  began  to  sink  again ; 
but  this  time  it  was  let  down  to  an  enormous  depth,  much 
greater  than  before,  for  the  firs  were  buried  under  beds  of 
sediment  as  thick  as  those  upon  which  they  stood,  and 


PERPETUAL  MOTION.  79 

besides  this,  streams  of  lava  from  a  submarine  volcano 
flowed  over  them,  one  being  a  great  mass  of  black  basalt, 
1,000  feet  thick.  After  being  thus  buried,  the  trees  were 
once  more  raised,  and  this  time  hoisted  up  7,000  feet 
above  the  sea,  and  now,  by  the  wear  and  tear  of  time,  they 
have  been  exposed  to  view  and  stand  high  up  in  the 
mountains  and  hundreds  of  miles  inland,  like  ghosts  of 
their  former  selves. 

Similar  risings  and  sinkings  of  the  land  have  gone  on, 
and  are  still  going  on,  more  or  less,  all  over  the  world,  so 
that  it  is  quite  true,  as  has  been  said,  that  "  nothing,  not 
even  the  wind,  is  so  unstable  as  the  crust  of  this  earth." 

As  to  the  causes  of  this  perpetual  motion  scientific 
men  are  at  present  by  no  means  agreed.  On  whatever 
part  of  the  earth's  surface  we  may  be  standing  we  are 
something  less  than  4,000  miles  from  its  centre;  but  the 
deepest  mine  in  this  country  has  not  quite  been  carried  to 
the  depth  of  even  half  a  mile,  which  is  a  mere  scratch 
in  comparison.  What  would  any  one  know  of  a  cocoanut 
if  he  had  but  scratched  its  shell  ?  And  yet  a  scratch  on  a 
cocoanut  shell  would  be  proportionately  far  deeper  than 
the  deepest  cutting  we  have  yet  made  in  the  crust  of  the 
earth. 

We  may  argue,  indeed,  that  because  the  mercury  in 
a  thermometer  is  found  to  rise  on  an  average  one  degree 
for  each  sixty  feet  that  it  is  carried  below  the  earth's 
surface,  therefore,  at  the  depth  of  but  a  few  miles  the 
heat  must  be  so  intense  as  to  melt  any  rock  with  which 
we  are  acquainted ;  and  if  we  can  also  prove  that  the 
heat  goes  on  increasing  at  the  same  rate  throughout,  our 


8o  THE  WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

argument  may  be  reasonable  as  far  as  it  goes  (though  even 
then  there  are  other  matters  to  be  considered),  and  we 
may  be  further  justified  in  adding  that  it  is  the  changes 
taking  place  in  this  molten  mass  which  cause  the  earth's 
crust  to  rise  and  sink. 

But  we  cannot  prove  anything  of  the  kind,  and  our 
knowledge  of  the  two  thousand  feet  or  so  which  we  have 
partly  explored  at  a  few  scattered  spots  does  not  give 
us  any  information  as  to  what  goes  on,  or  as  to  the  tem- 
perature which  may  prevail  at  the  depth  of  even  a  hundred 
miles. 

All  that  we  can  say  is  that,  whatever  may  be  the  state 
of  the  interior  of  the  globe,  the  heat  at  some  spots,  and 
these  comparatively  near  the  surface,  is  great  enough  to 
melt  rock,  and  to  keep  water  not  only  hot,  but  in  many 
cases  boiling. 

It  is  possible,  therefore,  that  the  slow  movements  in 
the  earth's  crust  may  be  due  to  the  cooling  and  re-melting 
and  consequent  contraction  and  expansion  of  miles  of  rock  ; 
but  whether  this  is  really  so  we  are  quite  unable  to  say. 

Neither  are  we  much  better  off  when  we  try  to  find 
out  the  causes  of  those  sudden  and  violent  movements 
to  which  we  give  the  name  of  earthquake.  These  are 
so  explosive  in  their  character  that  one  might  at  times 
imagine  them  to  be  occasioned  by  the  sudden  conversion 
into  steam  of  water  which  has  filtered  downwards  until 
it  has  come  in  contact  with  heated  rock ;  but  whatever 
the  cause  "an  earthquake,"  says  Prof.  Huxley,  "is  just 
such  a  disturbance  of  the  ground  as  would  result  from 
a  sudden  shock  or  blow  given  upwards  in  the  interior  of 


EFFECT  OF  EARTHQUAKES.  81 

the  earth,"*  by  which  tremors  may  be  communicated 
in  all  directions  through  the  solid  rock. 

The  more  solid  the  rocks  the  more  they  would  feel 
the  jar,  and  the  better  able  they  would  be  to  pass  it  on 
to  the  rocks  above,  whereas  in  a  bed  of  loose  gravel  it 
would  be  almost  extinguished. 

If  a  number  of  ivory  balls  are  placed  in  a  row  touching 
one  another,  a  tap  given  to  the  first  will  be  felt  by  all,  and 
the  last,  having  nothing  to  keep  it  in  its  place,  will  fly 
off.  In  a  similar  manner  a  shock  of  earthquake  has  been 
known  to  be  so  violent  as  to  send  paving-stones  flying 
into  the  air,  with  such  force  that  they  turned  a  complete 
somersault. 

It  is  often  found  that  an  earthquake  has  caused  the  area 
affected  by  it  either  to  sink  or  rise,  more  generally  the 
latter,  to  the  extent  of  several  feet.  The  memorable  earth- 
quake of  1835,  which  shook  the  western  coast  of  South 
America,  raised  the  land  round  the  Bay  of  Concepcion 
two  or  three  feet  at  one  blow,  and  upheaved  a  rocky  flat 
off  the  island  of  Santa  Maria,  which  was  left  with  its  beds 
of  gaping  mussels  hopelessly  stranded,  ten  feet  above  high- 
water  mark. 

More  havoc,  too,  was  wrought  in  the  island  of  Quiri- 
quina  by  this  earthquake  than  would  have  been  accom- 
plished by  the  ordinary  wear  and  tear  of  a  century.  Its 
effects  were  felt  far  and  wide,  and  had  it  occurred  in  Europe 
the  whole  continent,  from  the  North  Sea  to  the  Mediterra- 
nean, would,  Mr.  Darwin  says,  have  felt  the  tremendous 

*  The  greatest  depth  at  which  the  shock  originates  appears,  according 
to  Mr.  R.  Mallet,  to  be  forty  miles,  and  the  smallest  eight. 
G 


82  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

jar,  and   a  large   tract   on   the   eastern  coast  of  England 
would  have  been  permanently  upheaved. 

There  is  probably  no  place  upon  the  face  of  the  globe 
which  is  entirely  free  from  the  vibration  of  earthquake 
shocks,  and  these,  therefore,  contribute  much,  both  directly 
and  indirectly,  to  the  wear  and  tear  of  the  earth's  crust ; 
for  besides  the  destruction  caused  in  severe  earthquakes 
by  the  trembling  and  rending  of  the  rocks,  we  must  not 
leave  out  of  sight  the  often  worse  destruction  caused  by 
"  earthquake  waves,"  when  the  disturbance  takes  place 
near  the  coast.  The  sea  then  feels  the  shock  as  well 
as  the  land,  its  bed  is  frequently  raised  several  feet,  as 
by  a  sudden  jerk,  which,  of  course,  powerfully  affects  the 
water  above,  arid  enormous  waves  are  produced,  which 
rush  upon  the  shore,  carrying  everything  before  them. 
In  1835  the  great  wave  which  swept  along  the  South 
American  coast,  left  not  a  house  standing  in  Concepcion 
or  Talcahuano,  almost  washed  away  even  the  ruins  of  the 
latter  place,  and,  breaking  at  the  head  of  the  b.iy  in  a 
fearful  line  of  white  breakers,  rushed  up  to  a  height  of 
twenty-three  feet  above  the  highest  spring-tides.  Its  force 
was  so  great  that  it  moved  a  gun  and  gun-carriage,  weighing 
four  tons,  a  distance  of  fifteen  feet,  but  it  advanced  at 
such  a  deliberate  pace  that  the  people  had  time  to  run  up 
the  hills  out  of  its  way. 

After  an  earthquake  which  occurred  in  Japan  in  1854, 
the  waves  continued  to  come  and  go  from  10  a.m.  to 
2.30  p.m.  Not  a  house  was  left  standing  in  the  harbour 
of  Simoda,  many  junks  were  carried  inland,  one  of  them  as 
much  as  two  miles,  and  a  few  hours  after  the  disturbance 


SUBTERRANEAN  HEAT.  83 

in  Japan  several  well-marked  waves  had  reached  the  coast 
of  California. 

The  destruction  occasioned  by  earthquakes  is  obvious 
enough,  but  even  the  gradual  sinking  and  rising  of  the 
land  contributes  much  to  the  wear  and  tear  of  the  coast, 
since  by  this  means  different  parts  and  fresh  surfaces  are 
brought  within  reach  of  the  waves.  The  straits  between 
islands,  for  instance,  are  worn  deeper  and  deeper  as  the  land 
gradually  rises,  until,  when  it  has  been  lifted  quite  beyond 
their  reach,  the  straits  become  mountain  passes,  connecting 
one  valley  with  another.. 

It  has  been  said  that  whatever  the  condition  of  the 
interior  of  the  earth,  we  have  positive  evidence  that  at 
some  spots  not  very  far  beneath  the  surface,  the  heat  is 
great  enough  to  melt  rock,  for  many  a  subterranean  dis- 
turbance, which  begins  only  with  the  quaking  of  the  earth, 
ends  with  the  pouring  forth  of  liquid  matter. 

A  crack  is  made  in  some  weak  place,  through  which 
large  volumes  of  steam  and  other  vapours  are  forced  up, 
with  showers  of  red-hot  ashes  and  streams  of  molten  rock. 

The  fall  of  these  materials  round  the  mouth  of  the  hole 
forms  a  cone-shaped  mound,  called  a  volcano,  which  usually 
has  a  funnel-shaped  opening,  or  crater.  The  pipe,  or  chim- 
ney, which  leads  down  into  the  interior  of  the  earth,  has 
a  hard  stone  lining,  formed  by  the  melted  rock  or  lava, 
which  cements  the  loose  ashes  and  cinders  into  a  compact 
mass  wherever  it  comes  in  contact  with  them. 

It  seems  probable  that  much  of  the  force  by  which 
volcanic  matter  is  driven  to  the  surface,  and  shot  up  into 
the  air,  is  due  to  the  conversion  into  steam  of  water  which 


84  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

has  found  its  way  down  to  the  molten  rock  below ;  and 
whether  or  no  this  be  the  sole  source  of  volcanic  energy, 
it  is  certain  that  steam  is  poured  forth  in  large  quantities 
at  the  beginning  of  an  eruption,  and  that  with  such  violence 
that  any  fragments  of  rock  which  may  have  accumulated 
in  the  throat  of  the  volcano  are  hurled  into  the  air  with 
much  force.  Masses  of  rock,  some  nine  feet  in  diameter, 
have  been  hurled  fifteen  miles  by  the  great  volcano  of 
Cotopaxi,  and  even  larger  blocks  than  these  have  at  times 
been  sent  flying  several  miles,  or  shot  up  to  a  height  ot 
6,000  feet. 

Ashes — that  is,  fragments  of  lava  or  partly-melted  rock,, 
which  have  been  so  splashed  about  as  to  fall  in  spongy- 
looking  drops — are  poured  forth  by  volcanoes  in  vast  quan- 
tities, and  are  frequently  broken  up  into  particles  so  fine 
as  to  be  nothing  more  than  dust,  which  fills  the  air,  and 
plunges  the  whole  neighbourhood  for  miles  round  into 
darkness.* 

The  most  remarkable  eruption  which  has  occurred  in  our 
times  is  that  of  Krakatoa,  which  stands  upon  a  fissure  run- 
ning across  the  Straits  of  Sunda,  and  until  1883  had  been 
quite  quiet  for  two  hundred  years.  Many  earthquakes,  how- 
ever, had  recently  taken  place,  and  it  may  be  that  a  larger 
quantity  of  water  than  usual  was  consequently  admitted  into 
the  depths  below.  The  eruption  began  in  May,  1883,  when 
the  sea  for  ten  or  twenty  miles  was  covered  with  drifting 
pumice,  through  which  a  ship  cut  her  way  with  as  much 
noise  as  if  it  had  been  thin  ice  ;  the  volcano  continued  more 
or  less  active  for  the  next  three  months,  and  the  worst  out- 

*  See  Belt's  "  Naturalist  in  Nicaragua,"  for  eruption  in  Coseguina. 


EARTHQUAKE   \VAVES.  £5 

break  of  all  occurred  on  the  26th  and  27th  of  August,  when 
an  incessant  rumbling  was  heard  accompanied  by  short, 
loud  reports,  as  if  from  heavy  guns.  No  shocks  of  earth- 
quake were  observed,  but  the  blast  of  air  produced  by  these 
explosions  was  so  violent  that  walls  were  rent  at  a  distance  of 
some  500  miles. 

The  island  of  Krakatoa  consisted  of  three  peaks,  of 
which  the  most  lofty  was  2,700  feet  high  ;  but  the  whole  of 
the  northern  part  with  two  craters  has  disappeared  in  the 
sea,  and  half  the  remaining  peak  has  sunk  likewise,  having 
been  cut  in  two  from  the  very  summit,  so  that  it  now  forms 
a  cliff  between  two  and  three  thousand  feet  high.  A  great 
wave,  caused  no  doubt,  by  the  sudden  subsidence  of  this 
peak,  started  from  Krakatoa  with  a  height  of  twenty-seven 
feet,  dashed  upon  Java  and  Sumatra,  and  opposite  Anjer, 
in  the  narrow  throat  of  the  Straits,  rose  to  from  forty  to  a 
hundred  feet,  sweeping  the  shore  of  thousands  of  its 
inhabitants.  The  effects  of  this  wave  were  felt  on  both  coasts 
of  America ;  ashes  thrown  up  by  the  volcano  fell  over  an 
area  almost  as  large  as  Norway  and  Sweden  together  ;  dust 
fell  to  the  depth  of  two  inches  upon  a  vessel  1,000  miles 
off,  and  another  vessel,  which  was  near  the  Straits,  passed 
masses  of  floating  pumice  seven  feet  thick,  which  in  some 
places  were  so  extensive  as  to  impede  navigation. 

And  here  we  must  remark  that,  although  we  have  hitherto 
considered  them  almost  exclusively  in  their  destructive 
character  as  dust-makers,  yet  earthquakes  and  volcanoes, 
like  many  of  Nature's  other  labourers,  do  double  work,  and 
build  up  as  well  as  pull  down.  Indeed,  it  is  no  exaggeration 
to  say  that  without  them  the  whole  of  the  dry  land  on  the 


86  THE  WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

globe  might  be  buried  beneath  the  ocean ;  for  as  the  rivers 
are  perpetually  engaged  in  wearing  it  down  and  carrying 
it  away,  they  would  in  time  reduce  the  level  of  the  land 
everywhere  to  that  of  the  sea,  were  it  not  for  the  compen- 
sating earthquake  force,  which  whether  working  suddenly 
or  gradually,  acts  on  the  whole  in  the  opposite  direction. 

Volcanoes  also  have  their  share  in  repairing  the  waste  of 
the  earth's  surface,  and  though  the  island  of  Krakatoa  was 
reduced  by  the  great  subsidence  to  less  than  a  third  of  its 
original  area  (twenty  square  miles)  it  has  since  been  increased 
more  than  three  square  miles  by  the  addition  of  volcanic 
matter. 

The  amount  ejected  by  Krakatoa  was,  however,  small 
compared  with  that  thrown  up  or  poured  forth  by  many 
other  volcanoes. 

Most  of  the  islands  of  the  Pacific  are  of  altogether 
volcanic  origin,  hills  and  islands  of  volcanic  matter  have 
frequently  been  raised  to  a  height  of  several  hundred  feet  in 
the  course  of  a  few  hours,  and  lava  has  been  poured  forth 
in  such  voluminous  streams  as  to  form  beds  of  vast  extent 
and  many  hundreds  of  feet  in  thickness. 

Whether  the  molten  rock  which  we  call  lava  has  itself 
been  formed  from  something  else  and  has  previously  existed 
in  a  solid  state,  we  have  no  means  of  knowing;  but  there  are 
evidently  vast  stores  of  it,  for  the  space  from  beneath  which 
volcanic  matter  has  been  ejected  by  volcanoes  in  the 
Cordillera  alone  measures  720  miles  one  way  and  400  the 
other,  showing,  as  Mr.  Darwin  says,  the  existence  of  a  sub- 
terranean lake  of  lava  nearly  double  the  size  of  the  Black 
Sea. 


HOT  SPRINGS  IN  THE  AZORES.  87 

A  stream  of  lava  soon  cools  and  hardens  on  the  surface, 
but  the  great  mass  within  retains  its  heat  for  years.  In  1759, 
the  Mexican  volcano  Jorullo  poured  forth  a  perfect  sea  of 
lava  which  completely  filled  the  beds  of  the  two  rivers 
Cuitemba  and  San  Pedro  for  some  distance.  Both  streams 
disappeared  on  one  side  of  the  vast  expanse  ot  molten  rock, 
but  made  their  way  beneath  it  and  reappeared  on  the 
opposite  side  as  permanent  springs  pouring  forth  large  bodies 
of  very  hot  water,  which  retained  their  heat  for  many  years 
after  the  eruption.  At  the  present  day  the  water  is  but  a 
few  degrees  warmer  than  the  air;  but  for  a  hundred  years 
or  so  large  quantities  of  steam  continued  to  issue  from  the 
volcano. 

All  the  Azores  are  islands  of  volcanic  .origin,  and  in  one 
of  them,  San  Miguel,  there  is  an  immense  crater,  which  in 
former  times  was  no  doubt  a.  lake  of  boiling  lava,  but  is  now 
a  wonderfully  green  and  fertile  hollow,  called,  from  its 
shape,  the  Cauldron  of  the  Seven  Cities,  and  containing  two 
lakes  and  many  villages,  whose  white  houses,  meadows 
gardens,  and  corn  fields,  lie  at  a  depth  of  1,500  feet  below 
the  lip  of  the  crater. 

San  Miguel  is  still  shaken  by  earthquakes  from  time 
to  time,  and  although  there  are  no  more  eruptions,  the  under- 
ground fires  still  burn  well  enough  to  keep  the  water  in  a 
number  of  springs  always  boiling.  These  springs  all  empty 
themselves  into  one  small  stream,  which  retains  its  heat  for 
several  miles  and  carries  down  into  the  sea  a  great  variety  of 
dissolved  minerals.  Hot  water  and  steam  are  more  power- 
ful solvents  than  cold  water,  and  being  usually  charged  with 
large  quantities  of  carbonic  acid,  act  very  powerfully  upon 


88  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  J?OOM. 

limestone,  potash,  soda,  iron,  magnesia,  manganese,  and 
various  compounds  of  silica ;  and  then,  when  the  water  is 
impregnated  with  these,  especially  with  the  salts  of  potash, 
soda,  lime,  and  magnesia,  its  dissolving  power  is  again 
greatly  increased,  and  far  surpasses  that  of  water  which  is 
merely  charged  with  carbonic  acid. 

It  is  no  wonder,  therefore,  that  hot  springs  contain  a  large 
proportion  of  mineral  matter,  and  contribute  much  to  the 
wear  and  tear  of  the  rocks  through  which  they  pass. 

At  Terceira  the  hard  lava  rock  from  which  the  hot  springs 
issue  first  becomes  earthy  and  covered  with  red  speckles 
from  the  rusting  of  the  iron  which  it  contains;  then  it 
gradually  turns  soft,  and  at  length  even  the  glassy  crystals  of 
felspar  dissolve,  and  the  rock  is  converted  into  clay,  some  of 
which  is  quite  white  from  the  removal  of  the  iron,  and  looks 
like  the  finest  prepared  chalk,  while  some  is  bright  red  from 
the  accumulation  of  iron  oxide  or  rust. 

In  England  we  are  far  removed  from  any  active  volcano, 
yet  we  have  at  Bath  hot  springs,  whose  heat,  though  not  so 
great  as  those  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  and  other  places,  is  still 
rather  startling  when  we  come  to  consider  what  it  means. 
The  Bath  water  is  not  remarkable  for  the  amount  of 
mineral  matter  which  it  contains,  yet  Professor  Ramsay  has 
calculated  that  if  solidified,  it  would  in  one  year  form  a 
pillar  140  feet  high  and  nine  feet  in  diameter.  All  this  is 
now  carried  away  unseen  to  the  Avon,  and  by  the  Avon  to 
the  sea. 

The  most  wonderful  hot  springs  yet  known  are  those 
called  the  Mammoth  springs  of  the  National  Park  of  Yellow- 
stone, a  tract  of  country  in  the  heart  of  the  Rocky  Moun- 


MAMMOTH  SPRINGS.  89 

tains.  At  the  northern  end  of  this  "park"  which  has  an 
area  of  3,575  square  miles,  rises  a  greyish- white  cliff  about 
three  miles  in  length,  which  on  a  nearer  approach  resolves 
itself  into  a  series  of  terraces,  the  steps  of  which  are  occupied 
by  numerous  natural  basins,  some  gigantic,  some  minute, 
and  all  overhung  by  clouds  of  silver  vapour.  Some  of  the 
terraces  are  several  feet  wide,  others  quite  narrow,  and  the 
steps  also  vary  in  height  from  ten  feet  to  an  inch  or  two. 

The  top  level  is  150  feet  wide,  and  here  rises  the  largest 
spring  in  a  basin  forty  feet  long  and  twenty-five  wide.  The 
principal  springs  occur  on  the  first  ten  terraces,  and  the  clear, 
blue  water,  flows  down  from  various  openings  in  the  rims  of 
the  basins,  whose  general  shape  is  oval,  the  edges  being  scal- 
loped in  graceful  curves  with  wavy  frill-like  borders,  fre- 
quently adorned  with  pearly  knobs  from  the  size  of  a  pin's 
head  to  that  of  a  hazel-nut,  or  with  wonderful  incrustations 
resembling  coral,  moss,  feathers,  butterflies'  wings,  &c.  The 
prevailing  colour  is  a  rich  cream,  but  there  are  touches  of 
bright  sulphur-yellow,  delicate  pink  and  salmon,  vivid  scarlet, 
green,  rose,  crimson,  purple,  and  brown.  This  beauty  is 
produced  by  very  simple  means,  and  the  marble  basins, 
ornaments,  and  all,  are  merely  carbonate  of  lime  coloured  by 
iron  and  sulphur,  and  have  been  deposited  by  the  water.* 

The  water  of  the  Mammoth  springs,  which  of  course 
still  contains  a  large  quantity  of  mineral  matter,  notwith- 
standing these  deposits,  flows  by  several  channels  into 
Gardiner's  River,  and  so  to  the  ocean  (Fig.  1 9). 

*  There  are  similar  terraces  of  basins,  also  formed  by  hot  springs,  at 
Te  Tarata,  New  Zealand  ;  but  these,  though  as  white  as  marble,  are  de- 
posited by  water  containing  silica  instead  of  carbonate  of  lime. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

DUST-MAKERS — VEGETABLES    AND    ANIMALS. 

Lichens  the  first  Soil-makers  -  How  they  eat  into  the  Rocks — Vegetable 
Acids — Roots,  their  Length  and  Number — Minerals  required  by  Plants — 
Flint  in  Grasses,  Dutch  Rushes — Mechanical  Power —  Burrowing 
Animals,  Worms,  Ants,  Marmots,  Birds,  Boring  Mollusks. 

WE  have  seen  from  the  last  chapter  that  a  stream  of 
lava  continues  intensely  hot  for  a  long  time,  and 
may  emit  vapour,  and  even  go  on  creeping  slowly  down  the 
mountain  side  for  years  after  it  has  been  poured  forth. 

Long  after  it  has  ceased  to  move,  and  centuries  after  it 
has  become  perfectly  cold  and  solid,  the  surface  of  the 
stream  will  remain  fresh,  smooth,  and  glossy,  effectually  re- 
sisting all  attempts  both  of  air  and  weather  to  convert  it 
into  dust,  as  we  may  see  by  the  lava  streams  of  Ascension 
Island. 

Even  lava  has  to  yield  at  last,  however,  and  that  to 
workmen  whom  we  should  at  first  sight  be  inclined  to  call 
very  insignificant,  nothing  more,  indeed,  to  all  appearance, 
than  mere  stains,  such  as  one  sees  upon  a  brick  wall. 
These  discolour  the  surface  here  and  there,  and  upon 
examination  with  the  microscope  prove  to  be  vegetables,  of 
a  very  humble  kind  it  is  true,  but  still  vegetables,  Nature's 
gardeners  and  first  soil-makers,  which  will  prepare  the  way 
for  more  important  plants.  Lichens,  as  they  are  called,  are 
to  be  found  everywhere ;  no  climate,  hot,  cold,  damp,  or 


92  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

dry,  and  no  soil  seem  to  come  amiss  to  them,  for  they  will 
grow  loose  on  the  surface  of  the  sand  in  Peru,  and  attach 
themselves  to  the  dry  bones  of  mules  which  have  died  by  the 
wayside.  They  are  invariably  the  first  plants  to  make  their 
appearance,  whether  upon  lava  or  upon  the  rocks  of  islands 
newly  raised  above  the  sea,  and  no  rock  is  too  hard  for  them. 
The  multitudinous  spores  by  which  they  are  propagated  are 
for  ever  floating  in  the  air,  and  being  furnished  with  a 
gummy  fluid  are  able  to  attach  themselves  to  the  barest, 
smoothest  surface  ;  and  when  once  they  have  gained  a  foot- 
ing, they  are  simply  irresistible. 

They  flourish  on  granite,  slate,  lava,  and  in  Berkshire 
(Mass.)  even  the  white  quartz  hills  are  covered  on  their 
moister  slopes  with  large  patches  of  a  leathery  lichen,  which 
adheres  so  firmly  that  it  can  hardly  be  detached  from  the 
stone. 

The  first  lichens  to  appear  are,  as  has  been  said,  mere 
stains  ;  but,  by  the  growth  and  decay  of  successive  genera- 
tions of  these,  a  thin  film  of  soil  is  formed,  upon  which 
larger  kinds  take  root  in  their  order,  and  at  last  one  may 
see  rocks,  or  old  tombstones,  covered  with  a  crust  of  lichen 
an  inch  or  more  thick.  On  this  crust  mosses  begin  to  grow, 
and  they  help  on  the  process  of  decay  by  keeping  the  surface 
moist  and  sending  their  roots  down  into  the  stone ;  then 
insects  collect  and  feed,  die  and  decay,  and  thus  the  mineral 
matter  of  the  rock  is  not  only  reduced  to  powder  but  mixed 
with  organic  remains,  without  which  it  would  be  quite  unable 
to  support  the  higher  orders  of  plants. 

The  mosses,  as  they  grow  thicker  and  thicker,  keep  the 
air  from  the  rock,  and  thus  to  a  certain  extent  protect  it ;  on 


MINERAL  FOOD  OF  PLANTS.  93 

the  other  hand,  they  also  keep  the  surface  moist,  and  as 
moist  surfaces  absorb  more  carbonic  acid  than  dry  ones, 
this  also  helps  forward  the  decay  to  some  extent,  even  though 
the  other  enemy — frost — be  kept  out. 

Now,  how  do  the  lichens  manage  to  wear  away  the  rocks, 
since,  though  low  down  in  the  scale,  they  are  certainly 
plants,  and  plants  can  live  only  upon  liquid  food  ;  yet  these 
eat  their  way  not  only  into  bricks  which  have  been  baked, 
but  into  rocks  which  have  been  vitrified,  converted,  that  is, 
into  a  sort  of  glass  by  the  heat  of  the  subterranean  fires  ? 

On  removing  a  lichen  from  the  rock,  we  see  that  it  has 
made  an  impression  more  or  less  deep,  and  that  the  stone 
has  lost  so  much  of  its  substance ;  and  further,  on  burning 
the  lichen,  we  find  that  it  contains  from  ten  to  twenty  per 
cent,  of  solid  ash,  which  will  not  burn  away,  being,  in  fact, 
mineral  matter  abstracted  from  the  rock. 

How  then  has  the  lichen  managed  to  feed  upon  stone  ? 
All  plants  have  the  power  of  forming  within  themselves 
acids  of  one  sort  or  another,*  and  as  lichens  do  this  to  a  larger 
extent  than  most  others,  they  are  able  to  dissolve  the  very 
hardest  rocks.  Many  of  them,  indeed,  so  abound  in  oxalic 
acid  that  oxalate  of  lime  makes  up  half  their  weight,  and 
many  of  the  old  Greek  marbles  are  thickly  encrusted  with 
this  substance  from  the  growth  and  decay  of  lichens  on  their 
surface.  Oxalate  of  lime  is  simply  a  combination  of  oxalic 
acid  and  lime ;  the  acid  having  dissolved  the  lime  from  the 
rock  or  marble,  and  so  brought  it  into  a  condition  in  which 
the  lichen  could  absorb  it. 

But  though  lichens  are  the  first  soil-makers  and  take  up 

*  See  Chap.  XI.  -Vegetable  Scavengers. 


94  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

more  mineral  matter  in  proportion  to  their  size  than  any 
others,  still,  all  plants  contain  some  acid,  and  all,  on  being 
burnt,  yield  a  certain  quantity  of  ash,  some  more,  some  less, 
which  they  have  absorbed  from  the  soil  and  could  not  have 
done  except  in  the  form  of  liquid. 

We  have  already  seen  something  of  the  solvent  powers 
of  carbonic  acid,  and  this  gas  plants  are  constantly  giving 
off  through  their  roots,  which  are  much  more  numerous  than 
people  generally  have  any  idea  of.  Rye,  beans,  and  peas, 
for  instance,  will  send  down  a  thick  mat  of  white  fibres  to  a 
depth  of  four  feet ;  winter  wheat  has  been  known  to  send 
out  roots  seven  feet  long  in  forty-seven  days,  while  clover  a 
year  old  has  roots  three  feet  and  a  half  long. 

But  this  is  not  all.  Besides  these  obvious  roots,  there  are 
very  many  others  so  fine  and  hair-like  that  they  escape  notice 
altogether.  Yet  the  plant  takes  up  its  nourishment  through 
all  and  especially  through  these  young,  almost  invisible 
roots  (Fig.  20). 

By  way  of  experimentt  beans,  maize,  and  wheat,  have 
been  planted  in  fine  quartz  sand,  having  at  the  bottom  plates 
of  marble  (carbonate  of  lime),  magnesian  limestone  (car- 
bonate of  lime  and  magnesia),  gypsum  (sulphate  of  lime),  and 
glass. 

Being  kept  well  watered,  the  seeds  soon  began  to  sprout 
and  send  out  roots,  and  when  they  had  reached  the  plates 
below  and  could  get  no  farther,  they  spread  themselves  out 
horizontally. 

When  the  plates  were  examined  after  a  time,  the  marble 
and  magnesian  limestone  were  found  to  be  corroded — eaten 
into — by  the  roots,  the  impression  of  even  the  root-hairs  being 


Fig.  20.— YOUNG  TURNIP  PLANT  NINE  DAYS  FROM  DATE  OF  SOWING, 

SHOWING     HOW     THE     ROOT-HAIRS    ARE    CLOSELY    COVERED    WITH 
FIRMLY-ADHERING   PARTICLES  OF  EARTH   (a$  times  natural  size}. 


96  THE  WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

distinctly  visible.  No  effect  seemed  to  have  been  produced 
on  the  glass  or  gypsum  ;  but  that,  after  all,  might  only  mean 
that  it  was  as  yet  too  slight  to  be  perceptible. 

Smooth  pieces  of  limestone  are  often  found  in  meadows 
with  their  surfaces  covered  by  a  perfect  network  of  small 
furrows,  which  on  careful  examination  are  seen  to  correspond 
exactly  with  some  tiny  root  or  rootlet. 

Lupins  are  especially  active  in  decomposing  mineral 
matter,  and  for  this  reason  they  are  sometimes,  as  in  the 
Azores,  planted  with  corn  and  ploughed  in  as  manure. 
Three  lupins  planted  in  powdered  sandstone  have  been 
found  to  take  up  three -fifths  of  a  grain  of  mineral  matter ;  an 
equal  number  planted  in  powdered  basalt  took  up  three- 
quarters  of  a  grain.  Three  peas  took  up  rather  less  basalt 
and  much  less  sandstone,  and  buckwheat,  vetches,  wheat, 
and  rye,  considerably  less  of  both  ;  but  all  showed  a  marked 
preference  for  the  basalt. 

Their  work  did  not,  however,  end  with  what  they  had 
absorbed,  for  it  was  found  that  they  had  dissolved  more 
than  they  had  used,  and  the  soil  was,  therefore,  so  much  the 
better  fitted  for  the  support  of  other  plants. 

All  plants  require  sulphur,  phosphorus,  flint,  iron,  potash, 
soda,  lime,  magnesia,  and  chlorine,  for  their  proper  develop- 
ment; and  though  they  may  take  but  an  infinitesimal  amount 
of  some  of  these,  all  are  equally  necessary,  and  the  absence  of 
any  one  would  prove  fatal.  Some  take  more  of  one  and 
some  more  of  another,  and  even  the  different  parts  of  the 
same  plant  may  take  the  minerals  in  different  proportions. 
Thus  grasses  and  all  the  varieties  of  corn  take  up  much  more 
flint  than  turnips  and  cabbages  do ;  and  while  the  ash  of 


MATTER  TAKEN  FROM  THE  SOIL.  97 

horse-chestnut  bark  contains  12  per  cent,  of  potash  and  76 
of  lime,  the  ash  of  the  wood  yields  twice  as  much  potash, 
that  of  the  leaf-stem  nearly  four  times  as  much,  and  that  of 
the  flower  61  per  cent,  of  potash  and  13  of  lime. 

All  the  cresses,  on  the  other  hand,  contain  a  large  pro- 
portion of  sulphur,  and  though  a  crop  of  mustard  may  be 
grown  upon  damp  flannel,  it  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  it 
lives  and  flourishes  on  air  and  water  only ;  for  the  water, 
unless  it  be  distilled,  is  quite  certain  to  contain  some 
mineral  matter,  and  from  this  source  the  plants  derive  suffi- 
cient food  for  a  time.  If  grown  in  pure  water,  they  will 
sprout  and  even  grow  at  first ;  but  as  soon  as  they  have  used 
up  the  matter  contained  in  the  seeds,  they  will  die  ;  and  if 
they  be  burnt,  the  remaining  ash,  when  weighed,  will  be 
found  to  be  only  the  same  in  amount  as  that  contained  in 
an  equal  number  of  seeds,  showing  that  they  have  not  been 
able  to  find  anything  in  the  water. 

Every  crop,  therefore,  takes  a  certain  amount  of  mineral 
matter  from  the  soil,*  and  as  one  takes  more  of  one  thing 
and  another  more  of  another,  the  farmer  varies  his  crops 
that  the  soil  may  not  be  exhausted.  Sometimes  he  will  let 
it  lie  fallow  altogether,  that  the  carbonic  acid  and  ammonia 
washed  down  by  the  rain  may  dissolve  the  minerals  and 
prepare  them  for  plant-food,  and  the  same  end  may  be 
more  quickly  attained  by  the  growing  and  ploughing  in  of 
green  crops.  But,  of  course,  neither  plan  will  answer  unless 

*  In  general,  probably  99  per  cent,  of  the  soil  without  water  does  not 
contribute  to  the  support  of  vegetation.  The  hay  crop  takes  up  the  largest 
amount  of  mineral  matter,  but  reckoning  it  at  z\  tons  to  the  acre,  it  takes 
only  4oolbs.  The  weight  of  the  soil,  one  foot  deep,  is  4,ooo,ooolbs.  per 
acre.  (S.  W.  Johnson.) 
H 


98  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

the  minerals  are  already  in  the  soil ;  and  if  they  are  absent 
the  farmer  himself  must  supply  them  in  the  shape  of  bones, 
ashes,  &c. 

Many  grasses,  especially  the  stiff  harsh  kinds,  and  all 
varieties  of  corn,  contain  much  silica  or  flint.  What  they 
want  it  for  is  not  clear,  for  it  does  not  seem  needed  to  give 
strength  to  their  stems,  as  has  been  supposed ;  but  they 
cannot  do  without  it.  In  barley  straw  more  than  half  the 
ash  is  flint,  in  winter  wheat  41  per  cent,  in  meadow  hay  29 
per  cent* 

Among  trees,  while  the  willow  and  oak  contain  very 
little  flint,  but  a  great  deal  of  lime,  the  Scotch  fir  takes  as 
much  lime  as  the  willow,  and  twenty-one  times  as  much  flint ; 
and  the  Cauto  tree  of  South  America  has  bark  as  hard  as 
soft  sandstone  from  the  quantity  of  flint  it  contains,  and  the 
natives  of  Trinidad  use  its  ashes  in  place  of  sand,  with  the 
clay  of  which  they  make  their  pottery.  The  smooth  glossy 
rind  of  the  bamboo,  which  contains  70  per  cent,  of  flint, 
will  strike  fire  with  steel,  and  the  same  substance  collects  in 
hard  lumps  like  opal  in  the  joints  of  the  stem. 

There  is  flint  again  in  the  hairs  of  the  nettle,  in  hemp, 
and  in  hops,  and  all  the  best  vegetable  weaving  fabrics, 
except  cotton,  contain  a  great  deal.  Of  all  our  native  plants, 
however,  none  contain  more  than  the  horse-tails,  formerly 

*  The  proportion  of  ash  of  all  sorts,  though  not  invariable,  is  about  as 
follows : —  • 


Per  cent. 

Field  beet i8'a 

Red  clover 67 

Wheat  straw 5*4 

Wheat  grain 2*0 


Per  cent. 

Pea  straw 7 '9 

Pea  grain 27 

Fir  bark 2-0 

Fir  wood    . 0-3 


POWER  OF  LIVING  STRUCTURES.  99 

used  for  polishing  by  cabinet-makers  and  metal-workers,  and 
still  made  use  of  in  some  parts  of  the  country  for  scouring 
pots  and  pans.  Half  of  their  ashes,  and  in  some  varieties 
more  than  half,  consists  of  flint,  so  that  they  are  a  sort  of 
natural  sand-paper,  and  were  at  one  time  largely  imported 
under  the  name  of  "  Dutch  rushes."  If  examined  through 
a  microscope,  their  cells,  regularly  arranged  lengthwise  in 
ridges,  may  be  seen  encrusted  with  silica ;  and  if  the  whole 
plant  be  placed  in  nitric  acid,  all  the  soft  parts  will  be  eaten 
away,  while  the  flinty  skeleton  will  remain  entire. 

Living  structures,  whether  animal  or  vegetable,  possess 
extraordinary  powers  of  acting  on  mineral  matter,  and  a 
humble  lichen  will  produce  more  effect  on  a  piece  of  rock 
with  the  sulphuric,  oxalic,  or  nitric  acid  it  contains  than  an 
equal  amount  of  acid  would  do  if  otherwise  applied ;  nor 
would  a  dead  lichen,  however  acid,  be  able  to  do  what  a 
living  one  does. 

What  is  true  in  this  respect  of  lichens,  is  true  in  their 
degree  of  all  plants  ;  and  when  we  consider  to  what  a  depth 
many  roots  must  penetrate,  and  that  wherever  they  go  they 
effect  some  chemical  change,  we  can  readily  understand 
that,  as  dust-makers,  they  are  too  important  to  be  passed 
over. 

Moreover,  the  chemical  effects  of  vegetation  are  not  ail 
that  is  to  be  thought  of.  The  mechanical  effects  must  also 
be  taken  into  account. 

Few  plants  are  more  fragile  and  delicate-looking  than  a 
maidenhair  fern,  yet  one  knows  that  its  roots  are  strong 
enough  to  crack  the  pot  if  they  have  not  room  enough  ; 
weighty  kerb-stones  have  been  seen  to  be  forced  completely 


ioo  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

out  of  place  by  the  tender  blades  of  grass  growing  between 
them ;  and  Canon  Kingsley  mentions  having  seen  a  large 
flat  stone  raised  up  in  a  single  night  by  the  growth  of  a  crop 
of  tiny  mushrooms. 

Then,  again,  we  read  of  a  nut  tree  springing  up  in  the 
centre  hole  of  a  disused  mill-stone,  whose  stem  grew  and 
increased  in  size  until  it  entirely  filled  the  hole  ;  whereupon 
it  gradually  raised  the  stone  from  the  ground,  until  the  huge 
mass,  some  five  or  six  feet  in  diameter,  was  lifted  up  eight 
inches  all  round,  and  was  supported  in  the  air  by  the  stem 
only.  The  tree  attained  the  height  of  twenty-five  feet,  bore 
excellent  fruit,  and  was  killed  at  last,  not  by  the  weight  ot 
the  stone,  but  by  the  tightness  of  its  embrace,  which  stopped 
the  flow  of  sap.  This  is  certainly  "a  striking  example 
of  the  tremendous  powers  of  Nature ; "  and  since  trees  and 
plants  grow  as  vigorously  downwards  as  upwards,  their  roots 
must  certainly  help  to  break  up  the  rock,  not  only  by 
causing  decomposition,  but  by  forcing  their  way  into  joints 
and  cracks  and  then  gradually  widening  them.  The  island 
of  Aldabra,  north-west  of  Madagascar,  for  instance,  is 
being  reduced  and  destroyed  by  the  silent  inroads  of  the 
mangroves,  which  grow  along  the  base  of  the  cliffs  and  have 
eaten  their  way  into  the  rock  in  so  many  directions  that 
the  island  is  completely  riddled  by  creeks  of  their  making. 

But  we  must  now  pass  on  to  more  intelligent  burrowers, 
foremost  among  whom  comes  the  great  army  of  worms. 

It  has  been  calculated  that  there  are  as  many  as  53,767 
worms  in  each  acre  of  garden  ground,  and  about  half  that 
number  in  cornfields.  Nine  burrows,  and  sometimes  many 
more,  are  usually  found  in  two  square  feet  of  garden  soil  j 


WORM  BURROWS.  101 

and  it  is  computed  that,  all  over  the  32,000,000  acres  of 
cultivated  land  in  which  worms  are  able  to  live  in  Great 
Britain,  ten  tons  of  earth  are  brought  to  the  surface  in  each 
acre  by  the  worms  alone  every  year.  Moreover,  various 
acids,  called  humic,  are  generated  by  the  digestion  as  well  as 
decay  of  the  vegetable  matter  which  forms  so  large  a  part  of 
their  food ;  and  as  these  seem  to  be  even  more  powerful 
than  carbonic  acid,  they  must  play  an  important  part  in  the 
disintegration  of  the  rocks.  Worm  burrows  being  frequently 
five  or  six  feet  long  and  even  longer,  some  small  amount  of 
acid  at  least  must  be  carried  down  to  these  depths,  there  to 
act  upon  the  underlying  rock  or  fragments  of  rock  ;  and  as 
all  the  mould  is  in  constant  though  slow  movement,  fresh 
surfaces  must  be  continually  exposed  to  the  action  both  of 
the  humic  acids  and  the  carbonic  acid  of  the  soil. 

The  green  streaks,  sometimes  seen  in  red  marls*  or 
sandstone,  are  caused  by  the  decay  of  vegetable  matter; 
humic  acids  have  been  formed,  and  these  have  robbed  the 
red  oxide  of  iron,  to  which  the  marl  owes  its  colour,  of 
some  of  its  oxygen,  leaving  it  green  or  bluish-green ;  and, 
as  worms  drag  enormous  quantities  of  leaves  into  the 
ground  as  linings  for  their  burrows  as  well  as  for  food, 
they  must  greatly  promote  the  formation  of  these  powerful 
acids. 

Worms  also  frequently  undermine  and  even  penetrate 
the  walls  of  old  buildings,  and  by  thus  causing  them  to  sink 
have  by  degrees  helped  to  bury  them.  No  building  is  safe 
from  their  burrowing,  it  is  said,  unless  its  foundations  be 
carried  down  to  a  depth  of  six  or  seven  feet. 

*  Marls  are  a  mixture  of  lime  and  clay  with  little  or  no  sand. 


io2  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

Worms  are  found  in  all  moderately  damp  countries,  and 
wherever  they  are  they  help  to  wear  away  the  rocks  and 
make  "  dust,"  not  only  in  the  ways  already  mentioned,  but 
also  by  swallowing  a  large  amount  of  earth  and  even  small 
stones,  the  latter  of  which  are  ground  and  reduced  in  size 
by  the  process  of  digestion,  while  the  former  is  rendered  so 
fine  as  to  be  more  easily  washed  away  by  the  rain. 

In  some  countries  ants,  also,  do  an  amount  of  excavation 
which  may  well  be  called  enormous  considering  the  size  of 
the  workers.  At  Rio  de  Janeiro,  for  instance,  a  species  01 
the  Saiiba  ant  has  made  a  tunnel  under  the  bed  of  the 
river  Parahyba,  where  it  is  as  wide  as  the  Thames  at  London 
Bridge ;  at  the  Magoary  rice  mills,  near  Para,  they  once 
pierced  the  embankment  of  a  large  reservoir;  and  upon 
fumes  of  sulphur  being  blown  down  some  of  the  main 
entrances  to  their  colonies,  the  smoke  was  seen  to  issue 
from  a  great  many  outlets,  one  of  which  was  seventy  yards 
away. 

Among  the  larger  burrowers  may  be  mentioned  rabbits, 
moles,  marmots,  sand-martins  and  other  birds.  In  some 
parts  of  Tartary,  the  rocks  are  perfectly  riddled  by  the  holes 
of  marmots,  and  in  South  America  there  is  a  small  bird, 
called  by  the  Spaniards  Casarita,  or  Little  Householder, 
which  makes  a  narrow  cylindrical  hole  nearly  six  feet  under 
ground,  at  the  bottom  of  which  it  builds  its  nest.  The  holes 
are  made  in  any  low  bank  of  firm  sandy  soil,  by  the  side  of 
a  stream  or  road,  but  occasionally  the  birds  make  the 
mistake  of  choosing  a  mud  wall,  and  at  Bahia  Blanca  Mr. 
Darwin  saw  one  which  they  had  pierced  in  twenty  places, 
to  the  great  annoyance  of  its  owner.  The  wall  was  a  low 


BURROWERS   AND   BORERS.  103 

one,  and  the  birds  were  constantly  flying  over  it,  but  had 
not  the  wit  to  see  that  it  was  not  thick  enough  to  suit  their 
purpose. 

It  has  been  already  mentioned  that  roads  paved  with 
hard  granite  are  quickly  worn  away  by  the  constant  passage 
of  heavy  traffic,  but  it  would  hardly  be  imagined  that  the 
passing  to  and  fro  of  birds'  feet  could  make  any  impression 
on  the  rocks,  yet  in  Nightingale  Island,  Tristan  da  Cunha, 
these  are  actually  smoothed  and  polished  by  the  continual 
tread  of  hundreds  01  penguins  on  their  way  to  and  from  the 
sea.*  No  doubt  the  flinty  skeletons  of  the  microscopic 
plants  called  diatoms,  which  are  always  found  in  abundance 
in  the  mud  about  their  nests,  adhere  to  their  feet  and  act  as 
polishing  powder. 

Beneath  the  penguin  rookeries  are  the  holes  of  the 
prions  and  petrels,  which  are  bored  in  all  directions,  the 
round  being  honeycombed  to  such  an  extent  that  it  often 
gives  way  when  human  beings  venture  upon  it  ;  and  much 
the  same  may  be  said  of  the  sandy  flats  about  the  Cape 
of  Good  Hope,  only  there  the  burrowers  are  moles,  whose 
tunnels  are  so  large  as  easily  to  admit  the  hand  and 
arm.f 

The  boring  mollusks,  too,  must  not  be  entirely  passed 
over,  as,  although  their  shells  are  as  thin  as  paper,  and  as 
brittle  as  glass,  they  are  able  to  pierce  wood,  limestone 
clay,  slate,  and  even  sandstone,  to  the  depth  of  several 

*  The  island  is  a  mile  square  and  is  inhabited  by  about  400,000  penguins, 
whose  rookeries  cover  a  quarter  of  its  area. 

f  In  the  Chilian  Andes,  the  burrows  of  the  little  chinchilla  are  so 
numerous  as  considerably  to  increase  the  difficulty  of  travelling. 


IO4 


THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 


inches,  and  thus  frequently  destroy  the  foundations  of  jetties, 
sea-walls,  &c.,  and  ultimately  cause  their  destruction. 

Plymouth   breakwater,   which  is  constructed   of   hard 
marble-like  limestone,  was  so  much  injured  by  their  ravages 


Fig.  2i.—  PHOLAS  IN  A  SHELTER  HOLLOWED  BY  IT  IN  A  BLOCK  OF 

GNEISS. 


that  it  was  found  necessary  to  replace  the  blocks  between 
high  and  low  water-mark  by  granite,  against  which  they  are 
powerless. 

Somewhat  similar  excavations  are  made  by  a  species  of 
land-snail ;  but  this  is  believed  by  Dr.  Buckland  to  work 
with  its  rasp-like  tongue,  whereas  the  pholas  seems  to  have 
no  other  tool  than  its  papery  shell.  (Fig.  21.) 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

WHAT   BECOMES   OF   THE    "  DUST " — TOWNS   AND   CITIES. 

What  becomes  of  Nature's  "  Dust  "—Its  Amount— The  Visible  Part— Sand- 
banks and  Sand-dunes,  River  Sands— Sandy  Deserts— Sand  as  a  Pre- 
server— Uses  of  Sand — Glass-making — Sandstones  and  Precious  Stones 
—Mud,  Shales,  and  Slates— A  Great  Mud-heap— Effect  of  Pressure- 
Porcelain  Clays  and  Brick  Clays — A  Mass  of  Sapphires  and  Rubies — 
Towns  and  Cities. 

IN  countries  where  there  are  no  violent  earthquakes  or 
volcanoes,  no  tropical  storms,  and  no  glaciers,  Nature's 
labourers  make  and  carry  away  their  "  dust,"  for  the  most 
part,  so  quietly,  and  the  hills  look  so  very  much  the  same 
from  year  to  year,  and  even  from  generation  to  generation, 
that  we  may  find  some  difficulty  in  realising  that  anything 
at  all  is  going  on.  Yet  we  are  told  that,  by  one  means  and 
another,  a  mile  in  thickness  has  been  worn  away  from  the 
Mendip  Hills ;  that  the  part  of  Kent  and  Sussex  called  the 
Wealden  has  been  stripped  of  a  mass  some  hundreds  of 
square  miles  in  extent,  and  several  hundred  yards  in  thick- 
ness ;  and  that  the  district  to  the  south  of  Snowdon  has 
lost  from  its  surface  a  mass  of  20,000  feet,  a  whole  moun- 
tain, in  fact,  as  lofty  as  the  Andes. 

Not  an  atom  of  all  these  many  million  tons  of  rock  has 
been  lost,  however,  though  it  may  have  changed  its  appear- 
ance so  much  as  to  be  often  hardly  recognisable,  and  it  is 
when  we  consider  what  has  become  of  it  that  we  perhaps 


106  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

gain  the  best  idea  of  what  Nature's  wear  and  tear  really 
means.  For  "  the  entire  mass  of  stratified  deposits  is  the 
measure  of  former  denudation."  In  England,  roughly 
speaking,  all  the  rocks,  with  the  exception  of  the  granite 
hills  of  Cornwall,  Devon,  and  Worcestershire,  are  stratified, 
i.e.,  have  been  deposited  in  beds  or  strata  at  the  bottom  of 
seas  or  lakes,  or  at  the  mouths  of  rivers ;  all  have  had  a 
previous  existence  in  some  other  shape,  and  have  been  worn 
away  from  some  unknown  land,  which  we  may  dream  of  as 
Atlantis  if  we  will. 

Rivers  are  the  great  carriers,  and  if  the  refuse  conveyed 
by  them  has  had  a  long  journey,  the  visible  part  of  it 
reaches  the  sea  in  the  form  chiefly  of  mud  and  sand,*  which 
are  both  usually  deposited  within  one  or  two  hundred  miles 
from  the  shore,  though  the  finest  portion  may  be  carried 
farther,  especially  where  the  current  is  strong,  and  if  it 
becomes  entangled  in  ice,  is,  of  course,  carried  much  farther 
still. 

Much  of  the  sand  remains  close  in  shore,  forming  shoals 
and  sand-banks,  and  much  is  thrown  up  on  the  beach,  where 
it  is  dried  by  the  wind,  and  then,  unless  there  are  cliffs  or 
rising  ground  to  stop  it,  is  frequently  blown  inland  again, 
and  piled  up  into  sand-hills,  which  drift  farther  and  farther 
year  by  year,  swallowing  up  houses,  villages,  and  even  forests. 

This  is  what  the  sand  has  done  on  the  flat  coasts  of 
Jutland,  and  the  Bay  of  Biscay.  The  Landes,  as  the  sand- 
dunes  are  called  in  France,  extend  from  the  Garonne  to  the 

*  The  beach  pebbles  are,  for  the  most  part,  made  by  the  action  of  the 
waves  on  the  coast,  and  though  often  swept  along  it,  are  seldom  carried  out 
to  sea. 


SAND-BANKS  AND  SAND-DUNES.  107 

Pyrenees,  and  moving  forward  at  the  rate  of  sixty  or  seventy 
feet  every  year,  have  buried  several  villages,  which  were 
well  known  in  the  Middle  Ages.  In  some  places  their  pro- 
gress is  arrested  by  quite  small  running  streams,  the  sand, 
as  it  drifts  into  the  water,  being  carried  back  into  the  sea ; 
but,  on  the  other  hand,  they  have  proved  more  than  a  match 
for  the  river  Ad  our,  which  they  have  turned  nearly  a  mile 
and  a  quarter  out  of  its  original  course.  (Fig.  n,  p.  38.) 

In  the  outer  Hebrides,  the  encroachment  of  the  sands 
has  been  checked  by  planting  them  with  the  sea-reed  or 
mat-grass,  whose  tough  roots  are  often  twenty  feet  long,  and 
serve  to  bind  the  sand  together. 

In  Ceylon,  where  the  rivers  flow  rapidly  down  from  lofty 
hills,  they  reach  the  coast  heavily  laden  with  sand  and  mud, 
which,  instead  of  being  carried  any  distance  out  to  sea,  are 
heaped  in  bars  along  the  shore  by  the  currents  of  the  Bay 
of  Bengal.  The  bars  extend  north  and  south,  and  at  length 
attain  such  dimensions  that  the  rivers,  being  unable  to  force 
their  way  through,  are  obliged  to  flow  behind  them  in  search 
of  a  fresh  outlet.*  Long  embankments,  from  a  mile  to  three 
miles  broad,  and  forty  miles  long,  have  thus  gradually  accu- 
mulated, and  having  first  been  in  some  degree  consolidated 
by  the  growth  of  an  ipomoea  or  convolvulus,  which  sends 
out  roots  from  every  joint,  the  soil  has  then  been  fertilised 
by  glassworts,  saltworts,  and  other  sand-loving  plants,  until 
at  last  it  has  become  capable  of  supporting  plantations  of 
cocoanut  trees. 

*  These  barriers  grow  especially  fast  on  the  east  of  the  island,  to  which 
large  quantities  of  sand  are  brought  by  the  southern  current  from  the 
Coromandel  coast. 


io8  THE  WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

Many  of  the  river  sands  of  Ceylon  consist  of  fragments 
of  rubies,  sapphires,  and  garnets,  intermixed  with  others  of 
quartz  and  mica ;  and  the  bed  of  the  Manickganga  in  par- 
ticular is  composed  to  such  a  large  extent  of  ruby  sand  that 
it  reminds  one  of  the  story  of  Sindbad  -}  but,  as  none  of  these 
precious  fragments  is  larger  than  a  mustard  seed,  the  sand 
is  valueless  except  for  polishing  and  for  sawing  ivory. 

Among  the  great  accumulations  of  sand  existing  at  the 
present  day  must  be  mentioned  those  of  the  desert  of  Gobi, 
lying  north  of  the  Himalayas,  concerning  whose  buried  cities 
and  marvellous  hidden  treasures  many  tales  are  told.  One 
of  these  cities,  named  Pirna,  is  said  by  the  Chinese  to  have 
been  suddenly  overwhelmed  in  the  sixth  century;  and  an 
interesting  account  exists  of  the  flight  from  another,  called 
Katali  or  Kank,  of  a  Mahometan  priest,  who  for  many  suc- 
cessive Fridays  had  warned  his  flock  ot  the  calamity  about 
to  fall  upon  the  city. 

In  this  desolate  region  the  wells  are  all  protected  by 
huts,  else  they  would  soon  be  choked  by  the  ever-shifting 
sand,  which  stretches  away  in  the  distance  like  a  great  sea 
marked  by  regular  waves;  which  rise,  one  behind  the  other 
in  rows,  to  the  height  of  ten,  twenty,  or  even  one  hundred 
feet,  leaving  the  hard  under-lying  clay  exposed  to  view  be- 
tween them. 

The  advance  of  the  sand  takes  place  chiefly  in  the 
spring,  when  the  wind  blows  constantly  from  the  north  ;  but 
even  then  it  is  often  so  gradual  that  people  will  go  on 
occupying  a  tenement,  whose  court  may  be  filled  with  sand 
up  to  the  verandah,  from  the  breaking  of  the  sand-dune 
over  the  wall. 


USES  OF  SAND.  109 

But  though  destructive  from  one  point  of  view,  nothing, 
on  the  other  hand,  is  better  fitted  than  sand  for  the  preserva- 
tion of  ancient  monuments,  and  should  any  of  the  buried 
cities  of  Gobi  ever  be  uncovered,  no  doubt  they  will  be 
found  to  have  been  taken  excellent  care  of.  So,  at  least, 
it  has  been  in  the  western  plain  of  the  Nile,  where  the  sand 
is  so  fine  as  to  be  like  a  fluid,  and  has  buried  and  pre- 
served the  monuments  of  Ipsambul  so  perfectly  that  not  a 
feature  is  injured,  nor  are  even  the  colours  impaired. 

The  uses  to  which  we  put  sand  are  many  and  various, 
but  so  familiar  that  the  mere  enumeration  of  them  will 
suffice.  The  farmer  and  gardener  use  it  for  mixing  with 
heavy  clay  soils,  which  would  else  be  too  stiff  and  air-tight 
for  any  crops  to  flourish  in ;  the  stone-  and  marble-cutter 
want  it  for  sawing,  grinding,  and  polishing,  tor  which  last 
two  purposes  it  is  also  used  in  many  other  trades,  and  the 
housewife  scours  her  pots  and  pans  with  it,  either  in  the 
natural  state  or  in  the  form  of  sand-paper. 

All  this  is  obvious  enough,  and  no  one  will  doubt  that 
sand  is  useful ;  but  who,  unless  he  knew  the  fact,  would  guess 
that  sand  could  also  be  made  ornamental  ? 

Yet  the  inscription  on  an  old  German  drinking-glass 
runs  as  follows  :  "  I  am  beautifully  clear  and  bright,  and  I 
am  made  of  sand  and  ashes." 

Very  unpromising  looking  "  dust "  this,  yet  out  of  it  come 
the  crystal  glass  which  sparkles  on  the  dinner-table,  and  the 
window  glass  by  which  light  is  admitted  to  our  rooms,  as  well 
as  innumerable  other  varieties.  How  and  when  the  art  of 
glass-making  was  invented  is  unknown,  but  it  was  practised 
by  the  ancient  Assyrians  and  Egyptians,  as  the  specimens 


1 10  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

found  in  the  palace  of  Nimroud,  among  the  relics  of  Baby- 
lon, and  the  tombs  of  Egypt,  amply  testify. 

The  discovery  may  well  have  been  made  by  accident, 
since  lumps  of  impure  glass  are  sometimes  found  among  the 
ashes  when  a  rick  of  straw  has  been  burnt  down.  For  straw 
contains,  as  has  been  said,  a  good  deal  of  silica,  and  as  it 
also  contains  potash,  the  melting  of  the  two  together  pro- 
duces glass. 

Many  minute  particles  of  glass  are  tound  in  granite, 
formed  in  a  similar  way,  by  the  union  of  silica  with  the 
potash  or  soda  contained  in  the  felspar.* 

Most  silicious  sands — for  it  is  of  these  only  that  we  are 
now  speaking — are  more  or  less  yellow  from  the  iron  they 
contain,  and  it  is  this  which  gives  the  green  tinge  to 
common  glass.  The  finest  and  whitest  sand  ever  seen  was 
some  brought  from  America  and  exhibited  in  the  Crystal 
Palace,  in  1851,  which  was  perfectly  pure  quartz  and  as 
white  as  snow ;  but  sand  such  as  this  is  not  easily  obtained, 
and,  though  millions  of  tons  are  scattered  throughout  the 
British  Isles,  it  is  rarely  found  free  from  colouring  matter 
and  other  impurities,  and  needs  washing  and  burning  before 
it  can  be  used. 

The  chief  places  from  which  glass-making  sand  is  ob- 
tained in  England  are  Alum  Bay,  Lynn,  Aylesbury,  Ware- 
ham,  Reigate,  and  the  New  Forest ;  and  large  quantities  are 
also  brought  from  Fontainebleau,  in  France,  as  well  as  from 

*  Though  the  variety  of  felspar  called  orthoclase  contains  so  much  potash 
as  to  be  known  as  potash-felspar,  no  cheap  and  easy  way  has  been  found  of 
extracting  the  potash,  which  is  therefore  prepared  from  the  ashes  of  plants. 
Soda-felspar  is  called  albite. 


GLASS-MAKING.  in 

America,  Australia,  and  New  Zealand.  But  wherever  it 
may  come  from  and  whatever  may  be  its  destiny,  its  past 
history  has  been  much  the  same  in  all  cases.  Falling,  in 
the  first  instance,  from  banks,  cliffs,  or  mountain  sides,  it  has 
undergone  much  grinding  and  pounding  in  the  bed  either  ot 
glacier  or  river,  and,  after  being  washed,  carefully  sorted,  and 
carried  no  one  knows  how  many  miles,  has  at  last  reached 
the  resting-place,  from  which,  after  the  lapse  it  may  be  of 
ages,  it  has  been  taken  to  the  glass-house,  whence  it  emerges 
in  a  totally  changed  form  to  begin  a  fresh  career. 

For,  from  the  common  wine  bottle,  made  01  rough 
sand  and  other  coarse  materials,  on  through  the  many 
other  varieties,  till  we  come  to  the  finest  plate,  crystal,  and 
Venetian  glass  ;  from  the  common  ill-shaped  tumbler  to  the 
exquisite  ornaments  fabricated  by  Salviati — every  kind  owes 
its  existence,  more  or  less,  to  the  sand  whose  history  we 
have  been  tracing. 

But  sand  does  not  always  remain  sand  until  man  happens 
to  find  a  use  for  it.  At  the  mouth  of  many  rivers  it  is  fre- 
quently found  cemented  into  stone  by  the  carbonate  of  lime 
brought  down  by  them,  and  all  the  sandstone  used  for  build- 
ing was  once  nothing  but  loose  sand  lying  along  the  shore, 
every  grain  of  which  has  been  more  or  less  rounded  by  long- 
continued  washing. 

Some  beds  of  sandstone  are  a  thousand  feet  thick  and 
more,  and  were,  to  all  appearance,  accumulated  in  bygone 
ages  on  an  ancient  shore  which  stretched  from  England 
across  the  North  of  Germany.  It  is  not  easy  to  say  how  the 
sand  was  consolidated,  whether  by  pressure  only,  or  by 
pressure  and  heat  combined ;  still  less  can  we  tell  whence 


ii2  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

came  the  iron  oxide  which  coats  each  separate  grain  of  the 
red  sandstone. 

Sandstones  consist  mainly  of  grains  of  silica,  which  are 
generally  intermixed  with  small  particles  ot  other  minerals, 
and  are  cemented  either  by  carbonate  of  lime,  iron,  or  silica. 
Where  both  grains  and  cement  are  of  silica,  the  sandstone 
would  seem  to  have  been  formed  by  the  agency  of  heat. 
Intensely  hot  steam,  for  instance,  may  have  penetrated  the 
mass  of  porous  sand,  partly  melting  each  grain  which,  as  it 
cooled,  would  be  cemented  to  its  neighbours. 

The  heat  of  molten  lava  would  also  have  a  similar  effect, 
for  the  sand  used  to  line  furnaces  is  found  at  the  end  of 
a  fortnight  to  be  in  part  converted  into  a  compact,  close- 
grained  stone,  simply  by  the  heat ;  and  quartz  rock,  in  which 
the  grains  can  hardly  be  distinguished  even  with  the  aid  of  a 
microscope,  was  probably  also  formed  by  heat. 

Pure  quartz  consists  simply  of  silica,  and  crystallises  in 
six-sided  prisms.  Cornish,  Bristol,  and  other  so-called 
"  diamonds,"  are  small  bright  colourless  crystals  of  quartz, 
the  purest  variety  of  which  is  the  rock-crystal  used  by  spec- 
tacle makers,  while  the  Scotch  cairngorm,  purple  amethyst, 
ehrysoprase,  chalcedony,  carnelian,  onyx,  heliotrope  or 
blood-stone,  and  the  precious  opal,  all  consist  of  silica,  va- 
riously coloured  by  other  minerals  and  metals.  We  cannot, 
indeed,  say  that  any  of  these  stones  have  ever  actually  existed 
in  the  form  of  sand,  but  neither  does  there  seem  to  be  any 
reason  why  sand  should  not,  in  process  of  time,  be  trans- 
formed into  any  one  of  them. 

But  to  return  to  the  changes  which  we  can  see  for  our- 
selves to  have  taken  place. 


SANDSTONE  QUARRIES.  113 

At  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  there  is  a  sandstone  forma- 
tion some  2,000  feet  thick,  which  has  evidently  been  affected 
in  different  degrees  by  heat,  for  in  some  parts  it  is  stained 
red,  brown,  or  yellow,  by  iron,  in  others  it  is  perfectly  white, 
as  the  red  sand  in  a  furnace  becomes,  and  in  others  it  is  as 
compact  as  quartz. 

There  are  in  Great  Britain  some  thirty  well-known  sand- 
stone quarries  of  different  qualities  and  colours,  which 
supply  large  quantities  of  stone.  Of  ancient  sandstone 
buildings  in  this  country  there  are  the  abbeys  of  Tintern, 
Whitby,  Rivaulx,  the  cathedrals  of  Ripon  and  Durham,  and 
churches  in  Newcastle,  Derby,  Shrewsbury,  Ludlow,and  other 
places  too  numerous  to  specify.  All  these,  and  many  others, 
some  of  them  several  hundred  years  old,  are  built  of  that 
which  once  was  merely  sand  on  the  sea-shore,  and  as  not  a 
few  of  them  have  in  great  part  crumbled  away  and  are  still 
crumbling,  much  of  the  stone  will,  probably,  in  time,  return 
to  the  sea-shore  again. 

So  much  for  the  sand ;  and  now  for  the  mud,  which, 
though  carried  farther  out  to  sea  before  it  is  deposited,  is 
seldom  dropped  more  than  two  hundred  miles  from  the 
coast.  In  a  tideless  sea  or  gulf  it  is  deposited  close  in  shore, 
or  even  at  the  mouth  of  the  river,  as  witness  the  Nile  delta, 
and  the  mud  flats  on  the  coast  of  Nova  Scotia,  which  are 
derived  from  the  neighbouring  cliffs  of  shale  and  sandstone, 
the  sediment  being  deposited  tide  after  tide  in  layers,  some 
of  them  as  much  as  one-tenth  of  an  inch  thick,  but  generally 
much  thinner. 

The  wide  plains  and  low  plateaux  of  Western  Russia 
have  evidently  been  similarly  formed  of  mud  and  sand ;  but 


ii4  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

as  we  travel  eastward,  and  approach  the  volcanic  rocks  of 
the  Ural  Mountains,  both  are  altered  by  the  heat,  and  pass 
into  schists  and  quartzites.  The  muddy  Russian  plains  are, 
so  geologists  say,  composed  of  some  of  the  most  ancient  beds 
of  sediment  in  the  world,  and  having  been  raised  above  the 
waves  ages  ago,  have  never  since  been  brought  within  their 
reach  or  suffered  much  change  of  level.  In  age  they  corre- 
spond with  some  of  the  Welsh  rocks,  but  in  Wales  the  mud 
has  been  hardened  and  altered  into  slate,  while  in  Russia  it 
remains  pretty  much  in  its  pristine  condition. 

One  of  the  most  ancient  heaps  of  mud  in  England  is  now 
dignified  by  the  name  of  the  Longmynd,  or  Long  Mount, 
which  is  ten  miles  long,  and  even  now,  though  it  has  lost 
much  of  its  height,  rises  more  than  1,000  feet  above  Church 
Stretton,  and  is  not  less  than  26,000  feet  thick.  Many  of 
the  Longmynd  rocks  consist  of  innumerable  thin  layers, 
some  of  them  scarcely  thicker  than  a  sheet  of  paper,  and 
evidently  once  thin  films  of  very  fine  mud  and  sand,  though 
now  hardened  into  shales  and  slates  of  various  tints,  from 
deep  purple  to  grey  and  olive. 

A  gigantic  mud-heap  this  is,  certainly,  and  more  ancient 
than  we  can  easily  realise,  even  though  we  know  that  the 
whole  of  England  to  the  east  of  it,  with  its  thousands  of  feet 
of  sandstones,  coal-beds,  limestones,  chalk  downs,  &c.,  has 
been  formed  since  it  was  deposited. 

The  Longmynd  rocks  were  originally  deposited  under 
water  in  horizontal  layers  or  films,  such  as  those  of  the 
Nova  Scotia  mud  flats,  the  dark,  gritty,  coarse  part  of  the 
mud  brought  by  each  tide  sinking  first,  and  the  finest 
forming  the  top  of  each  layer.  But,  whatever  other  changes 


DIFFERENCE  BETWEEN  SHALE  AND  SLATE.      115 


may  have  taken  place  since  those  days,  one  is  very  evident : 
the  great  mass  of  mud  has  been  upheaved  until  it  stands 
almost  on  end,  and,  consequently,  though  it  is  quite  plain 
that  the  layers  were  once  in  a  horizontal  position,  they  are 
now  some  of  them  almost 
vertical.  They  split  off  very 
readily  along  the  lines  of 
bedding,  as  one  would  ex- 
pect them  to  do,  for  each 
layer  of  mud  would  natu- 
rally be  slightly  hardened 
before  the  succeeding  one 
was  deposited;  but  the  fact 
of  the  rock  thus  splitting 
shows  that,  though  of  the 
same  age  and  composi- 
tion as  some  of  the  best 

roofing-slates  in  the  world,  it  is,  after  all,  not  true  slate, 
but  shale  (Fig.  22),  for  true  slate  splits,  not  along  the  lines 
of  bedding,  but  at  some  angle,  often  at  right  angles,  to  them, 
and  has  clearly  undergone  some  change  which  the  shale 
has  escaped. 

Any  fossils,  such  as  shells,  which  occur  in  shales,  are 
found  lying  unaltered  in  shape,  with  their  flat  sides  parallel 
to  the  bedding,  just  as  they  would  naturally  have  dropped 
through  the  water.  When  they  occur  in  slate,  on  the  other 
hand,  they  are  distorted,  and  stand  almost  or  quite  on  end,  as 
they  would  do  if  the  mud  enclosing  them  had  been  subjected 
to  great  pressure  from  the  sides. 

A  mass   of  clayey   mud,   containing    grains   of  sand, 


Fig.  22. — SLICE  OF  SHALE,  SEEN 
UNDER  THE  MICROSCOPE  AND 
HIGHLY  MAGNIFIED. 


n6 


THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 


mica,  &c.,  when  sufficently  pressed  as  to  be  reduced  to 
half  its  original  bulk,  will  be  found  capable  of  splitting  into 
almost  any  number  of  thin  layers  at  right  angles  to  the 
direction  in  which  the  pressure  is  applied.  It  has,  in  fact, 
acquired  the  "  slaty  cleavage,"  and  the  various  grains  com- 
posing it  have  ranged 
themselves  with  their  flat 
sides  facing  the  direction 
from  which  the  pressure 
came.  White  wax,  and 
even  ice,  may  be  made  to 
acquire  this  cleavage  in  the 
same  way  by  pressure,  and 
it  is  also  developed  to  a 
certain  extent  in  biscuit  by 
Fig.  23.— SLICE  OF  SLATE,  SEEN 

UNDER    THE    MICROSCOPE,    AND 


HIGHLY  MAGNIFIED. 


the   mere    application    of 
the  rolling-pin. 

All  mud  which  has  been 

converted  into  true  slate  has,  therefore,  we  conclude,  been 
subjected  to  enormous  pressure,  and  has  thence  acquired 
the  property  of  easily  splitting  into  thin  plates,  which  makes 
it  so  valuable  as  a  roofing  material. 

Fine  mud  is  often  rolled  into  roundish  lumps  and  em- 
bedded in  the  coarser  materials,  and  it  is  to  these  that 
are  due  the  greasy  whitish-green  spots  often  seen  in  slates, 
the  grain  being  too  fine  to  bite  the  pencil.  (Fig.  23.) 

The  sediment  carried  by  the  Rhine  into  the  German 
Ocean  consists  chiefly  of  silica,  alumina,  and  iron,  and 
is  just  such  as  might  hereafter  form  a  clay  slate,  rich  in 
iron.  i 


GREEN  SLATES.  117 

The  slate  quarries  of  Carnarvonshire  are  the  largest  in 
the  world,  and  give  employment  to  3,000  men ;  the  whole 
number  employed  in  slate  quarrying  throughout  Great  Britain 
being  about  15,000. 

The  "green  slates  "  of  Cumberland  are  composed  ot 
volcanic  dust  and  ashes,  which  often  contain  large  quan- 
tities of  felspar,  and  thus  form  a  very  tenacious  mud.  Vol- 
canic dust,  converted  into  mud,  has  been  found,  more 
or  less,  wherever  the  bed  of  the  ocean  has  been  explored, 
vast  quantities,  as  we  have  seen,  are  ejected  during  erup- 
tions, and  the  lighter  part  is  carried  hither  and  thither  by 
the  wind.  Dust  from  Mount  Hecla  has  at  times  been  con- 
veyed to  Denmark,  and  since  much  larger  quantities  have, 
no  doubt,  been  dropped  by  the  way,  there  are  probably 
large  accumulations  in  the  German,  as  well  as  in  the 
Indian,  Ocean,  which  may  be  converted  into  shales  or  slates 
according  to  circumstances. 

Ancient  mud  is  found,  however,  in  various  other  con- 
ditions besides ;  some  as  soft  clay,  some  mixed  with  lime, 
when  it  becomes  marl,  some  as  hard  clay,  and  some  so 
altered  by  heat  as  to  be  crystalline,  and  much  harder  than 
even  the  hardest  and  oldest  of  the  Welsh  slates. 

Many  of  the  most  valuable  clays  occur  in  a  semi- 
hardened  state,  and  are  blasted  in  rock-like  masses ;  but 
whether  hard,  or  soft  and  sticky,  all  clays  are  essentially 
hydrous — /.<?.,  watery — silicates  of  alumina,  and  though  al- 
ways containing  other  minerals,  are  chiefly  compounds  of 
silicon  oxide  (silica)  with  alumina,  the  oxide  of  the  silvery- 
looking  metal  called  aluminium ;  neither  silicon,  which  is  a 
black  crystalline  substance,  nor  aluminium,  occur  in  the  free 


n8  THE  WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

state  in  Nature.  Clays  owe  their  peculiar  plasticity  to  the 
presence  of  combined  water.* 

The  purest  form  in  which  silica  is  found  is  quartz,  but 
even  that  contains  a  trace  of  alumina,  and  sometimes  of 
iron  as  well ;  and  the  purest  form  of  alumina  is  the  blue 
sapphire,  which  is  crystallised  alumina,  coloured  by  iron, 
and  containing  also  a  minute  quantity  of  silica.  Neither 
silica  nor  alumina,  therefore,  is  ever  absolutely  pure. 

These  two,  with  potash  or  soda,  constitute  the  felspar 
which  makes  up  so  large  a  portion,  not  only  of  the  granites, 
but  of  all  the  lavas,  ancient  and  modern;  and  decayed 
felspar  is  simply  day>  which  varies  in  colour  and  con- 
sistency as  it  contains  more  or  less  silica,  and  more  or 
less  iron. 

The  purest  clays — those  used  for  the  manufacture  of 
porcelain — are  more  than  half  silica,  and  none  are  entirely 
free  from  iron,  while  many  contain  soda,  potash,  mag- 
nesia, &c. 

The  brick-making  clays  when  burnt  come  out  red,  blue, 
or  black,  when  they  contain  much  iron,  brown  when  they 
contain  magnesia,  white  and  dun-coloured  when  they  con- 
tain lime.  More  than  a  thousand  million  common  bricks 
are  made  in  England  every  year. 

But  Nature,  too,  has  her  potteries  and  brick-kilns, 
where  she  bakes  her  clay  to  bring  out  its  colours,  and  one 
of  the  largest  of  these  is  in  the  "  Bad  Lands  "  of  the  Little 

*  Oxygen  constitutes  nearly  half  the  weight  ot  the  earth,  and  is  found 
combined  with  many  metals  and  minerals.  Soda,  alumina,  and  lime  are  all 
compounds  of  oxygen,  with  the  metals,  sodium,  aluminium,  and  calcium, 
none  of  which  occur  in  nature  except  in  union  with  oxygen. 


THE  BAD  LANDS. 


119 


Missouri,  which  are  "  bad  "  indeed  for  travellers,  since  the 
whole  country  is  one  huge  labyrinth  of  ruins,  which  at  times 
ook  like  those  of  some  gigantic  city  (Fig.  24).  Here  are 


Fig.  24. — BAD  LANDS,  NEAR  FORT  BRIDGER,  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES. 

fragments  of  apparently  Cyclopean  masonry,  walls,  pin- 
nacles, ramparts,  terraces,  obelisks,  pyramids,  fortifications, 
all  heaped  together  in  the  wildest  confusion,  and  baked 
of  various  colours  from  deep  red  and  brown  to  pale  yellow 
or  china  white.  Here  and  there  are  towers  and  spires, 


120  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

looking  as  if  they  had  just  been  freshly  painted  with 
vermilion,  and  reminding  one  of  the  churches  of  North 
Germany,  and  here  again  are  piles  of  what  look  like 
crumbled  bricks  and  mountains  of  potsherds,  such  as  that 
of  Monte  Testaccio,  near  Rome,  said  to  be  composed  of 
the  broken  pottery  thrown  away  by  the  Romans. 

Almost  all  the  porcelain-clays  are  derived  from  the 
felspar  of  granite  rocks,  and  usually  contain  spangles  of 
mica.  The  soda  or  potash,  having  been  attacked  by  the 
carbonic  acid  of  air  or  water,  is  readily  dissolved  and 
washed  away ;  then  the  silicate  of  alumina  which  remains 
is  more  slowly  carried  down  the  hill  side  in  the  form  of 
fine  powder,  some  of  which  is  deposited  in  beds  along  the 
watercourses,  while  the  finest  and  purest  is  carried  into  the 
valleys,  or  into  rivers  and  lakes.  The  farther  it  is  carried 
the  more  perfectly  it  is  sorted,  and  hence  the  low-valley 
clays  are  often  wonderfully  fine. 

The  soil  at  the  bottom  of  granite  hills  is,  therefore, 
usually  too  stiff,  while  that  on  the  top  is  too  sandy,  to 
be  fertile. 

The  granite  hills  of  Cornwall  and  Devonshire  supply 
all  the  kaolin,  or  china-clay,  used  in  the  Staffordshire  pot- 
teries. This  is  the  finest  and  purest  white  clay  known,  and 
derives  its  name  from  Kaoling,  "lofty  ridge,"  the  mountain 
from  which  it  is  obtained  by  the  Chinese,  who  seem  to 
have  been  the  first  to  turn  it  to  account.  The  place 
whence  the  largest  quantity  is  derived  in  England  is  the 
neighbourhood  of  St.  Austell,  Cornwall,  and  when  first 
raised  it  has  the  appearance  and  consistency  of  mortar. 

China-stone,  also  used  for  making  porcelain,  is  a  product 


PORCELAIN  MANUFACTURE.  121 

of  the  same  granite  rocks,  being  simply  felspar  in  a  less 
advanced  state  of  decay ;  and  at  Belleek,  Fermanagh, 
kaolin  is  obtained  from  the  undecomposed  red  granite  of 
the  district,  which  becomes  white  when  calcined,  the  iron 
being  extracted  by  magnets. 

The  Chinese  began  the  manufacture  of  porcelain  some 
two  thousand  or  more  years  ago,  and  at  the  present  day 
have  large  manufactories,  King-ti-chin  alone  boasting,  it 
is  said,  nearly  3,000  kilns.  Chinese  porcelain  was  first 
introduced  into  Europe  in  the  sixteenth  century,  but  no 
real  progress  was  made  in  imitating  it  until  the  eighteenth 
century,  when  Bottcher,  of  Dresden,  made  first  a  red  ware, 
and  then  white  porcelain. 

Earthenware  of  a  coarse  kind  was  manufactured  in 
Staffordshire  from  a  very  early  period. 

In  one  of  the  ranges  of  the  Appalachian  mountains, 
known  as  Blue  Ridge,  the  rocks  (which  are  principally 
gneiss)  are  decomposed  to  a  depth  of  fifty  feet  or  more, 
and  converted  into  a  reddish,  greasy,  brick-clay ;  for  gneiss 
is  composed  of  the  same  three  minerals  as  granite,  but  these 
are  arranged  in  plates  instead  of  grains,  and  in  the  Blue 
Ridge  rocks  the  plates  of  quartz  may  be  seen  in  their 
original  positions,  embedded  in  clay.  In  some  of  these 
rocks  the  various  stages  of  decomposition  may  be  well 
observed.  Thus  the  upper  part  is  completely  kaolinised, 
and  almost  entirely  freed  from  the  iron  which  gives  the  red 
tint  to  the  coarser  clay;  lower  down  the  rock  is  partly 
decomposed,  and  lower  still  quite  unchanged,  so  that 
it  seems  evidently  to  have  been  decayed  from  without, 
probably  by  water  charged  with  carbonic  acid  filtering 


122  THE  WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

through  from  the  surface.  The  iron  oxide  seems  then  to 
have  been  dissolved  out  and  carried  away  to  the  foot 
of  the  range,  where  there  are  immense  deposits  of  iron 
ore.* 

West  of  Blue  Ridge  alumina  is  found  in  considerable 
quantities,  combined  with,  a  small  amount  of  iron  and  silica  ; 
but  instead  of  being  in  the  soft,  sticky  state  of  clay,  it  is 
intensely  hard,  being,  in  fact  crystallised.  Were  it  not  that 
the  crystals  are  all  flawed,  and  therefore  valueless  as  gems, 
they  might  almost  be  called  a  mass  of  sapphires  and  rubies, 
for  many  of  them  are  coloured  with  the  most  beautiful  tints 
of  pink,  blue,  and  deep  ruby.  As  it  is,  the  mineral  is 
called  corundum,  and  is  most  useful  for  grinding  and 
polishing,  and,  being  much  harder  than  emery,  and  prepared 
at  much  less  cost,  is  likely  to  be  a  formidable  rival.  Emery 
itself  is  but  another  form  of  alumina,  containing  a  large 
admixture  of  iron,  and  is  obtained  chiefly  from  the  decayed 
rocks  at  Cape  Emeri,  in  the  island  of  Naxos.f 

The  opaque  stone,  known  as  the  Oriental  turquoise,  is 
a  phosphate  of  alumina  coloured  by  copper. 

And  thus  from  clay  and  mud  we  have  come  round  to 

*  The  gneiss  and  granite  rocks  of  Brazil  are  similarly  decomposed  to 
the  depth  of  100  feet. 

f  The  hardness  of  the  sapphire  being  100,  that  of  corundum  is  77,  and 
the  emery  of  Naxos,  46.  By  melting  china  clay  with  red  lead,  the  silica 
is  extracted,  and  after  exposure  for  several  weeks  to  intense  heat,  the 
mixture,  on  being  allowed  to  cool,  is  found  separated  into  two  layers,  the 
upper,  mainly  silicate  of  lead  and  glassy-looking,  the  lower,  crystalline, 
and  containing  perfect,  but  colourless,  crystals  of  alumina,  which  are 
specimens  of  the  corundum,  and  when  coloured  by  the  addition  of  iron, 
cobalt,  &c. ,  differ  in  no  respect  in  composition  or  appearance  from  the 
Oriental  ruby  and  sapphire. 


A  LARGE  MUD-HEAP.  123 

precious  stones  again.  Whether  the  latter  have  actually 
been  formed  out  of  the  decomposed  materials  of  older  rocks 
or  no,  there  is  apparently  no  reason  in  the  nature  of  things 
why  they  should  not  have  been,  for  in  the  Blue  Ridge  rocks 
we  seem  to  have  almost  the  whole  process  before  us. 
There  is  the  gneiss,  the  decayed  felspar,  greasy  brick-clay, 
kaolin,  and  finally  the  corundum,  which  seems  to  have  needed 
only  slightly  different  treatment  in  the  great  laboratory  to 
convert  it  into  precious  stones.* 

However  this  may  be,  we  have  traced  our  sand  and 
mud  far  enough  for  the  present  purpose,  and  have  seen  how 
Nature  has  sorted  and  transformed  them  into  sandstones, 
clays,  shales,  slates,  &c.,  and  how  man  has  taken  them  up 
where  she  left  them  and  has  used  them  from  the  earliest 
ages  to  pile  up  those  vast  heaps  of  stone,  brick,  glass,  tiles, 
and  slates,  which  we  call  towns  and  cities. 

What  was  the  Tower  of  Babel  but  baked  mud  ?  And 
what  is  the  "  modern  Babylon "  in  the  main,  but  a  vast 
transformed  mud-heap,  rivalling  the  Longmynd  in  size, 
though  certainly  not  in  beauty  ? 

*  The  old  naturalists  said  heat  was  required  to  ripen  precious  stones. 
Certainly  they  are  found  only  in  the  south  ;  though  the  common  topaz  is 
found  by  the  hundredweight  at  Falun,  and  crystals  of  common  emerald, 
several  feet  long,  occur  in  the  felspar  quarries  of  Finland 


124 


CHAPTER  IX. 

WHAT    BECOMES    OF   THE    "DUST" — CORAL   ISLANDS,    ETC. 

What  becomes  of  Nature's  "Dust" — The  Invisible  made  Visible— Rivers 
supply  the  Inhabitants  of  the  Ocean — Oyster-shells,  Mother-of- Pearl, 
and  Pearls — The  Largest  existing  Shell — Coral  Polyps,  their  Stony 
Skeletons,  Coral  Reefs,  Coral  Islands — Depths  of  the  Ocean — Micro- 
scopic Shells — Stone  Lilies- -Limestone  and  Marble. 

SAND  and  mud  do  not  by  any  means  represent  all  that 
is  carried  down  into  that  universal  receptacle,  the 
great  ocean,  which  is  receiving  fresh  additions  every  moment 
of  the  day  and  night,  and  yet  never  gets  overfull.  The 
clearest  of  clear  streams  is  as  surely  conveying  some- 
thing to  it  as  the  mud-laden  river ;  and  as  everything  that 
water  can  dissolve  reaches  the  sea  at  last,  sea-water  contains 
at  least  a  trace  of  every  soluble  mineral  and  metal  in  the 
world. 

Roughly  speaking,  however,  the  average  composition  of 
1,000  grains  of  sea-water  is  as  follows  : — 

Water .  962-0 

Sodium  chloride  * 27*1 

Magnesium  chloride 5 '4 

Potassium  chloride 0*4 

Bromide  of  magnesia      .          cri 

Sulphate  of  magnesia i'2 

Sulphate  of  lime         0*8 

Carbonate  of  lime o'l 

*  Common  salt. 


THE  WORK  OF  THE  RIVERS.        125 

This  at  first  sight  appears  remarkable,  for  it  will  be 
remembered  that  carbonate  of  lime,  of  which  this  analysis 
shows  so  small  a  proportion,  is  the  mineral  carried  down  in 
the  largest  quantities,  at  least,  by  the  European  rivers*;  and 
that  the  chlorides,  though  they  seldom  fail  altogether  in  any 
river  or  stream,  are  yet  conveyed  in  comparatively  minute 
quantities,  except  by  a  few  small  rivers  which  are  especially 
rich  in  them. 

The  sun,  when  he  drinks,  takes  pure  water,  leaving  salt, 
lime,  and  all  else,  behind  in  the  ocean ;  what  then  becomes 
of  the  enormous  quantity  of  carbonate  of  lime  which  the 
Rhine,  Rhone,  Loire,  and  Thames,  to  mention  no  others, 
are  continually  pouring  into  it  ? 

It  is  in  the  ocean  still,  but  it  has  changed  its  form; 
or  rather  has  again  acquired  a  form  and  has  once  more 
become  visible. 

The  rivers  gather  materials  from  all  parts  of  the  earth, 
and  their  work  is  not  for  nothing ;  they  cater  on  land  for 
the  inhabitants  of  the  sea,  and  what  they  pour  in  is  all  wanted 
there,  and  the  reason  why  there  is  so  little  dissolved  lime  in 
sea-water  is  that  it  is  required  for  so  many  purposes. 

Where,  for  instance,  would  the  oyster  get  the  material 
for  its  shells,  if  the  rivers  did  not  supply  its  need ;  for, 
being  rooted  to  its  bed,  all  it  wants  must  be  brought  within 
its  reach  ?  Moreover,  the  lime  must  be  dissolved  before  it 
can  be  used ;  the  oyster  would  not  be  able  to  make  anything 
of  a  lump  of  chalk  or  limestone ;  for,  like  all  other  shell- 
covered  mollusks,  it  has  to  swallow  the  materials  of  which 
its  habitation  is  made.  These  are  secreted  by  a  sort  of 

*  Chap.  IV. 


126  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

transparent  skin,  or  membrane,  called  the  "  mantle,"  which 
covers  the  body  more  or  less,  and  shapes  and  colours  the 
shell  according  to  its  own  peculiarities. 

The  Rhine  alone  carries  to  the  sea  every  year  carbonate 
of  lime  enough,  according  to  Bischof,  to  make  the  shells 
of  332.539,000,000  oysters,  and  as  it  empties  itself  into 
the  German  Ocean,  no  doubt  the  oyster-beds  on  the  coast 
of  Kent  are  supplied  with  their  house-building  materials 
in  part  at  least  by  its  means — materials  which  have  been 
collected  for  the  purpose  far  away  in  Germany  and  Swit- 
zerland. 

Oysters  are  full  grown  in  about  four  years,  and  it  is 
said  that  in  that  time,  in  order  to  obtain  enough  material, 
ten  of  them  must  swallow  from  345  to  587  Ibs.  of  sea-water, 
or  from  5-2  to  8-9  cubic  feet;  but  this  is  supposing  they 
would  extract  the  whole  of  the  lime,  and  as  that  is  unlikely, 
they  must  actually  swallow  much  more. 

The  artificial  beds  at  Whitstable  and  Faversham,  in 
Kent,  alone  extend  over  nearly  twenty-seven  square  miles, 
and  the  natural  oyster-beds  in  America,  some  of  them,  cover 
a  million  acres ;  but  it  is  quite  beyond  the  power  of 
figures  to  express  the  number  of  oysters  contained  in  such 
beds,  for  it  takes  1,600  to  fill  a  bushel  measure.  One 
oyster  might,  it  is  said,  have  offspring  enough  to  fill  12,000 
barrels.* 

Numerous  beyond  counting,  however,  as  are  the  oysters, 
mussels,  whelks,  and  periwinkles,  they  are  mentioned  first, 
not  as  being  the  chief  consumers  of  lime,  but  because  they 

*  Five  million  dollars'  worth  are  annually    consumed  in    New  York 
alone. 


PEARLS  AND  MOTHER-OF-PEARL.  127 

are  such  familiar  objects,  to  all  Londoners  at  least;  and  they 
acquire  fresh  interest  when  it  is  remembered  that  every 
particle  of  the  material  for  their  shells  was  brought  to  them 
invisibly,  perhaps  from  the  Alps,  perhaps  from  the  English 
hills  and  downs,  and  perhaps  from  countries  far  away. 

Shells  are  of  two  kinds  ;  some,  like  the  foreign  cowries, 
are  hard  and  compact  as  porcelain,  while  others,  like  the 
oyster,  are  formed  in  layers,  and  are  often  covered  with  a 
skin ;  but  all  consist  chiefly  of  carbonate  of  lime  and 
gelatine  (the  hard  sorts  containing  much  less  gelatine)  with 
varying  proportions  of  sulphate  of  lime,  phosphate  of  lime, 
carbonate  of  magnesia,  and  iron.  Pearls,  which  are  secreted 
by  some  other  bivalves,  as  well  as  the  oyster  and  mussel, 
consist  also  chiefly  of  carbonate  of  lime,  and  are,  in  fact,  of 
the  same  composition  as  the  mother-of-pearl  forming  the 
shell.  This  is  arranged  in  concentric  layers  like  the  coats 
of  an  onion,  round  some  minute  particle  of  refuse,  such  as 
a  grain  of  sand,  which  the  animal  has  been  unable  to  re- 
move from  its  dwelling,  and  therefore  covered  up  as  the  only 
way  of  diminishing  the  annoyance. 

It  is  needless  to  specify  the  various  uses  to  which 
mother-of-pearl  is  put,  from  the  making  of  shirt-buttons, 
to  the  inlaying  of  papier  m&che ;  but  whatever  its  quality 
and  colour,  its  history  is  always  much  the  same,  and  so, 
too,  is  that  of  the  shell  cameos,  though  their  texture  differs 
from  that  of  mother-of-pearl. 

Cameos  are  cut  from  univalves — shells  formed  all  in  one 
piece,  like  the  cowry,  limpet,  periwinkle,  &c.,  and  consisting 
of  three  layers  of  calcareous  matter,  which  in  some  are  all  of 
different  colours.  In  1875,  300  persons  were  employed  in 


THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 


Paris  in 
cutting  ca- 
meos, which 
are  mounted 
as  brooches  in 
Birmingham. 
The  largest  existing 
shell  is  that  of  the 
Tridacna,  having  two 
'"  valves,  some  specimens  of 
which  measure  five  feet  across 
and  weigh  500  Ibs.  The  South  Sea 
Islanders  use  them  for  collecting  rain 
water,  but  they  were  formerly  so  rare  in 
Europe  that  the  Republic  of  Venice 
thought  one  valuable  enough  to  be  presented  to  Francis  I., 
who  gave  it  to  the  Church  of  St.  Sulpice,  where  it  may  still  be 


Fig.  25.— THE  GIANT 
OYSTER  FROM  SIN- 
GAPORE. 


CORAL-POLYPS   AND    SEA-ANEMONES.  I  29 

holding  the  "  holy "  water.  The  shells  are  more  common 
now,  and  are  often  employed  of  all  sizes  for  this  purpose. 
One  from  Singapore  (Fig.  25)  was  shown  in  the  London 
International  Fisheries  Exhibition,  in  1883.  Its  weight  was 
3  cwts.,  3  qrs.,  14  Ibs. ;  its  length,  3  ft.  4  in.  ;  and  its  breadth, 
2  ft.  2  in. 

In  some  parts  of  the  Arctic  Ocean  the  bed  is  covered 
with  "  urchins "  or  sea-eggs,  and  these,  as  well  as  the  in- 
numerable crabs,  lobsters,  cray-fishes,  and  many  others,  all 
require  lime  for  their  shells  or  armour. 

Passing  over  these,  however,  we  come  to  other  animals, 
which  though  individually  much  smaller,  yet  take  up  far 
more  space  than  any  beds  of  oysters  or  other  mollusks,  and 
in  fact  cover  an  area  so  vast  as  hardly  to  be  estimated  at  all. 
We  mean,  of  course,  the  coral-polyps,  "  coral  insects"  as 
they  are  erroneously  called  in  certain  pieces  of  poetry. 
They  are,  however,  no  more  "insects"  than  the  oysters; 
and  in  spite  of  the  same  poetry,  they  cannot  accurately  be 
described  as  "builders"  or  "architects,"  nor  held  up  as 
examples  of  industry. 

No  one  thinks  of  speaking  of  the  grass  in  the  meadow  as 
"  toiling  "  to  make  hay,  nor  does  one  praise  baby  for  his 
industry  because  he  has  grown'  since  last  year,  and  coral- 
making  is  no  more  toilsome  than  bone-making.  What  we 
call  "  coral "  is  in  fact  the  animal's  skeleton,  not  its  house. 

The  coral-polyp,  as  the  creature  is  called,  in  allusion  to 
its  many  arms  or  rays,  much  resembles  the  garden-aster  in 
appearance,  and  is  still  more  like  the  sea-anemone,  which 
indeed  gives  one  a  better  idea  of  it  than  any  description 
can  do. 
J 


130  THE   WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

Both  animals  consist  of  a  disk  and  bag.  The  former, 
which  is  often  brightly  and  beautifully  coloured,  is  set  round 
with  fringed  rays  ;  these  are  in  reality  hollow  tubes,  which 
close  over  all  the  prey  brought  within  their  reach,  and  convey 
it  to  the  mouth,  which  is  placed  in  the  centre  of  the  disk,  the 
stomach  being  contained  in  the  bag  beneath.  Thus  far  the 
anemone  and  the  coral-polyp  are  alike,  though  the  one  may 
be  many  times  larger  than  the  other ;  but  if  the  anemone's 
bag  were  cut  across,  we  should  see  that  it  was  composed  of 
several  divisions,  and  it  would  present  much  the  same 
appearance  as  an  orange  or  lemon  when  similarly  cut.  In 
the  anemone,  as  in  the  lemon,  these  partitions  are  formed 
by  a  skin  or  membrane,  but  in  the  coral-polyp  they  are 
hard  and  solid,  and  consist  of  carbonate  of  lime. 

Some  corals  are,  to  all  appearance,  true  sea-anemones, 
their  stony  skeletons  being  so  completely  hidden  as  to  be  un- 
suspected by  those  not  in  the  secret ;  but  there  are  others 
which,  instead  of  living  singly  as  these  do,  grow  together  in 
groups  of  thousands  and  hundreds  of  thousands,  each  tiny 
individual  having  its  own  flower-like  disk,  mouth,  and 
stomach,  but  being  at  the  same  time  as  closely  united  with 
the  rest  as  the  twig  is  with  the  tree.*  The  whole  mass  is 
indeed  one,  but  fed  by  many  mouths,  and  the  various  in- 
dividuals bud,  and  branch,  and  grow  in  such  a  truly  plant- 
like  way  that  their  name  of  zoophytes  (animal-plants)  is  most 
*  The  red  coral  grows  up  in  a  sort  of  branched  stem,  every  branch  being 
terminated  by  an  open-mouthed  polyp.  The  skeleton,  which  belongs  to  the 
whole  colony  in  common,  is  covered  by  a  soft  body  by  which  it  is  deposited. 
In  the  white  coral,  besides  the  common  skeleton,  there  is  a  special  one  for 
each  individual.  This  is  shaped  like  a  cup  and  divided  by  radiating  parti- 
tions, and  the  cups  are  united  into  a  common  branch — Huxley. 


VARIETIES  OF  CORAL.  131 

appropriate.  In  shape  they  imitate  almost  every  plant  which 
grows  on  the  land.  There  are  branching  trees,  from  six  to 
eight  feet  high,  covered  with  starry  polyp  blossoms ;  there 
are  shrubs  of  various  shapes,  tufts  of  imitation  rushes, 
pinks,  feathery  mosses,  broad  leaves  studded  with  daisy-like 
flowers,  cacti,  fungi,  and  lichens,  in  endless  variety  of 


Fig.  26. — ONE  OF  THE  ASTR/EA  CORALS  (Faria  pallida). 

beauty.  Some  colonies  grow  in  the  shape  of  graceful  vases, 
which  measure  three  or  four  feet  across,  and  are  composed 
of  sprigs  and  branches  representing  countless  multitudes  of 
individuals.  Others  again,  as  Astraea,  shape  themselves  by 
common  consent  into  solid  domes,  with  a  diameter  of  from 
ten  to  twenty  feet,  which  are  scattered  all  over  with  stars  of 
purple  or  emerald-green  (Fig.  26).  These  immense  groups 
all  spring  from  one  germ,  and  are  so  intimately  connected 
that  an  injury  to  one  individual  is  felt  by  all  the  rest,  which 


132  THE   WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

at  once  close  their  flowers.  Yet  a  twig  of  coral  may  be 
broken  off  without  being  killed ;  in  two  or  three  hours  it 
will  recover  sufficiently  to  open  out  again,  and  if  placed 
in  a  suitable  position  will  soon  begin  to  sprout  and  grow 
after  the  family  pattern. 

It  has  not  at  present  been  possible  to  calculate  the  rate 
of  growth  with  much  certainty,  but  twenty  corals  planted  on 
a  sand-bank  east  of  Madagascar,  grew  nearly  three  feet  in 
height  and  several  feet  in  length  in  the  course  of  six  or  seven 
months ;  and  the  copper  sheathing  of  a  vessel  which  had 
spent  twenty  months  in  the  Persian  Gulf,  was  covered  with 
a  hard  crust  of  coral  two  feet  in  thickness.  No  doubt,  how- 
ever, the  rate  of  growth  varies  in  different  species. 

Most  of  the  Bermuda  corals  resemble  anemones  or 
groups  of  anemones,  the  stony  skeleton  being  entirely  con- 
cealed ;  but  in  a  few,  as  the  brain-coral,  which  grows  in  the 
shape  of  large  domes,  it  is  only  just  coated  with  a  film  of 
yellow  or  greyish  living  matter. 

Like  the  bog-mosses,  many  of  the  coral-polyps  go  on 
growing  above  while  they  die  below,  and  thus  the  large  solid 
domes  of  Astrsea  are  quite  dead  within,  the  living  portion 
being  confined  to  the  surface  and  only  half  an  inch  thick,  or 
even  less. 

The  great  masses  of  coral  rock,  called  reefs,  which  in 
some  places  extend  for  hundreds  of  miles  along  the  coast 
and  form  natural  breakwaters,  are  composed  only  in  part  of 
living  coral,  and  consist  chiefly  of  the  consolidated  debris 
of  many  kinds  of  coral  and  corallines,  the  shells  of  mollusks, 
and  the  tubes  of  many  sea-worms. 

The  great  reef  on  the  N.E.  of  Australia  is  1,200  miles 


REEF-MAKING  CORALS.  133 

long,  and  seventy  miles  wide  near  the  southern  end,  while 
that  on  the  west  of  New  Caledonia  is  400  miles  long. 

The  Bell  Rock  lighthouse,  in  the  German  Ocean,  though 
112  feet  high,  is  often  completely  buried  in  foam  and  spray 
during  a  ground-swell,  though  there  be  no  wind  to  lash  the 
waves.  But  the  great  rollers  of  the  Pacific  are  far  heavier 
than  any  waves  in  the  German  Ocean,  and  during  a  storm 
they  do  as  much  damage  in  the  coral  groves  as  a  gale  does 
among  the  trees  on  shore.  Sometimes,  especially  where  the 
reef  has  been  weakened  by  boring  mollusks,  masses  twenty 
and  thirty  feet  long  are  torn  off,  many  a  coral  tree  is  pros- 
trated, boughs  and  twigs  are  torn  off,  and  the  polyps  over  a 
large  surface  destroyed.  The  dead  parts  are,  however,  soon 
overgrown  and  protected  by  smaller  encrusting  corals  and 
other  zoophytes,  as  well  as  by  serpulae,  mollusks,  and  lichen- 
like  nullipores,  just  as  the  dead  trunk  of  a  tree  is  overgrown 
with  mosses,  &c. 

There  are  deep-sea  corals,  but  the  reef-making  kinds  do 
not  flourish  at  a  greater  depth  than  from  120  to  150  feet,  and 
prefer  being  within  reach  of  the  light,  but  where  they  may 
be  either  quite  covered  or  constantly  washed  by  the  waves, 
since  a  very  short  exposure  to  the  sun  kills  them.  Only  two 
species,  however,  are  able  to  stand  the  full  violence  of  the 
breakers  on  the  upper  and  outer  edge  of  the  reef,  and  of 
these  one  grows  in  thick  vertical  plates,  while  the  other  grows 
in  masses  from  four  to  eight  feet  broad  and  nearly  as  thick. 
These  massive  kinds  actually  thrive  best  where  they  are 
most  exposed,  and  are  less  perfect  in  sheltered  spots,  where 
more  delicate  kinds  flourish. 

The  largest  number  of  species,  however,  are  found  where 


i34  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

the  heat  is  intense  and  the  water  calm,  as  in  the  Red  Sea, 
which  has  some  120  varieties.  No  coral  can  live  except  in 
quite  clear  water ;  and  as  all  rivers  bring  down  more  or  less 
sediment,  gaps  usually  occur  in  the  reef  opposite  their 
mouths. 

Since  reef-corals  cannot  live  below  a  certain  depth,  it  is 
quite  evident  that  they  have  not  worked  their  way  up  from 
the  bed  of  the  ocean,  as  used  to  be  believed,  and  the  method 
in  which  the  numerous  coral  islands,  or  atolls,  which  stud 
the  Pacific  have  been  formed,  seems  to  be  this : — 

In  the  first  place  the  coral  has  grown  upon  the  submerged 
rocky  bed  immediately  surrounding  some  island,  and  has 
gradually  formed  a  fringing  reef.  Here  it  grows  upwards 
until  it  gets  too  near  the  surface,  when  it  will  cease  growing 
in  that  direction  and  grow  outwards  instead,  the  inner  parts 
dying,  being  broken  into  fragments,  ground  up  into  sand, 
and  consolidated  into  a  compact  rock,  and  fresh  shoots 
constantly  growing  in  their  place. 

As  long  as  the  island  remains  stationary,  the  reef  can 
do  nothing  but  grow  outwards,  but  if  the  island  should  sink 
a  little,  the  sea  will  flow  in  and  a  channel  will  be  formed 
between  the  island  and  the  reef,  which  is  now  called  a 
barrier  reef.  This  apparently  is  what  has  taken  place  on 
the  coast  of  Australia,  where  the  channel  between  it  and  the 
reef  is  generally  from  five  to  fifteen,  but,  in  one  part,  nearly 
a  hundred  miles  wide.* 

But  supposing  that  the  land  should  continue  to  sink  until 

*  Mr.  Wallace  tells  us  that  the  outer  side  of  the  Great  Barrier  reef 
sinks  2, ooo  feet,  which  shows  how  much  the  rock  upon  \\hich  the  corals 
first  grew  must  have  subsided. 


CORAL-REEFS,  ATOLLS,  AND  ISLANDS. 


'35 


nothing  of  it  remains  above  water,  except,  perhaps,  what  was 

once  the  top  of  some  hill  or  mountain,  and  that  after  a 

while  this,  too,  disappears;  then  nothing  will  remain  to  mark 

the   spot  where   the  island  was  but  the  reef  which  once 

encircled  it.     For  the  coral 

will  have  continued  to  grow 

upwards  as  its  foundations 

sank.     Had   there   been  a 

sudden     plunge    into     the 

depths  below,  it  would  have 

been  killed;   but  this  slow, 

gentle    subsidence,    so    far 

from  being  injurious,  merely 

gives  it  the  necessary  room 

to  grow,  and  the  deeper  the 

foundation  sinks,  the  thicker 

the  reef  will  be. 

The  whole  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean  is  scattered  with 
atolls  (Fig.  27),  or  rings 

of  coral,  some  of  them  many  leagues  across  ;  and  all,  larger 
or  smaller,  are  so  many  memorial  stones,  marking  the  site 
of  a  buried  island.  The  reef  is  below  water,  of  course,  but 
its  position  is  clearly  marked  by  the  line  of  snow-white 
breakers,  which  are  incessantly  dashing  themselves  against 
it.  By  their  means  heaps  of  coral  sand  are  gradually  formed 
and  piled  upon  the  reef,  forming  little  islets  which  are 
heaped  higher  and  higher,  converted  into  dry  land,  and 
covered  with  vegetation.  It  is  not  often,  however,  that  the 
whole  atoll  is  raised  above  the  water  ;  generally  speaking 


Fig.  27. — GROUND  PLAN  OF  KEEL- 
ING ATOLL.     (After  Darwin.} 


136  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  Roan. 

it  is  only  here  and  there  that  it  rises  into  an  islet  crowned 
with  feathery  cocoa-palms,  the  rest  of  its  outline  being 
marked  by  the  snow-white  breakers. 

The  Laccadives,  or  "  lac  of  islands,"  and  the  Maldives, 
or  "  thousand  islands,"  are  just  a  series  of  such  atolls.* 

Few  animals,  indeed,  have  left  such  vast  and  enduring 
monuments  of  themselves  as  these  humble  zoophytes ;  but 
there  are  others  which  must  not  be  passed  over.  Outside 
the  harbour  of  Pernambuco  there  is  a  reef  of  sandstone, 
several  miles  long,  which  is  composed  of  grains  of  silicious 
sand,  cemented  together  by  carbonate  of  lime.  Though 
exposed  to  all  the  violence  of  the  great  Atlantic  waves,  with 
their  load  of  sand  and  sediment,  which  are  unceasingly 
driven  against  it  by  the  trade-wind,  the  bar  has  lasted 
hundreds,  perhaps  thousands  of  years,  thanks  to  a  few  inches 
of  calcareous  matter,  formed  chiefly  by  the  growth  and  decay 
of  many  generations  of  serpulse,  together  with  a  few  barnacles 
and  some  paper-like  layers  of  a  sort  of  sea-lichen,  called 
nullipora.  The  inner  surface  of  the  sand-bar,  which  has  no 
such  protecting  coat,  is  visibly  worn  in  spite  of  its  sheltered 
position. 

Off  the  Bermudas  there  are  reefs  which  are  mainly 
composed  of  these  serpulae,  whose  tubes  one  may  often  see 
on  oyster-shells,  though  this  gives  one  no  idea  of  their  real 

*  It  has  been  suggested  that,  as  the  bed  of  the  ocean  is  not  a  plain,  but 
diversified  by  hills  and  even  mountains,  and  as  enormous  quantities  of 
shells  are  constantly  falling  to  the  bottom,  some  of  these  hills  may  be  so 
heightened  as  to  reach  the  point  at  which  deep-sea  corals,  annelids, 
sponges,  mollusks,  &c.,  can  live,  after  which  they  would  increase  more 
rapidly  until  they  reached  the  zone  of  the  reef-corals,  which  would  grow 
upwards  as  long  as  they  could,  and  then  outwards. 


NULLIPORES   AND    CORALLINES.  137 

beauty,  for  when  alive,  the  little  inhabitant  waves  a  plume 
of  brilliantly-coloured  feathers — its  breathing  apparatus — 
from  the  door  of  its  home. 

The  nullipora  is  one  of  the  numerous  sea-plants,  like  the 
corallines,  which  take  up  large  quantities  of  carbonate  of 
lime,  and  though  not  hard,  as  the  latter  are,  is  very  tough. 
Both  grow  in  most  luxuriant  profusion  among  the  Bermuda 
reefs,  and  are  of  ^reat  beauty.  As  we  know  it,  the  coralline, 
with  its  hard,  jointed  stems,  is  either  pale  pink  or  lilac,  or 
more  often  bleached  to  the  whiteness  of  bone  by  sun  and 
wind ;  but  in  the  Bermudas  the  prevailing  colour  is  green, 
which  varies  from  a  bluish  to  a  grass-green  tint,  with  here 
and  there  a  tuft  of  plum  colour,  and  white  is  rare.  One 
species  of  nullipore  is  of  a  brilliant  peach  colour,  and  has 
thin,  stiff,  moss-like  branches,  the  tips  only  of  which  are 
alive,  and  another  grows  in  lichen-like  sheets. 

Both  plants  take  up  so  much  lime,  that  they  are  capable 
of  forming  masses  of  calcareous  matter  two  or  three  feet  thick 
by  their  successive  growth  and  decay. 

It  had  been  supposed,  until  within  the  last  few  years, 
that  the  depths  of  the  ocean  were  devoid  of  both  animal 
and  vegetable  life,  but  the  voyage  of  the  Challenger  has 
shown  that  this  is  a  mistake.  Only  an  infinitesimal  portion 
of  the  ocean  floor,  at  depths  over  2,500  fathoms,*  has 
even  now  been  explored,  we  must  remember;  but  so  far 
as  this  has  been  done,  animal  life  is  found  everywhere — 
though  it  is  less  plentiful  in  extreme  depths — while  plants, 
though  stragglers  may  be  found  here  and  there,  are  prac- 
tically limited  to  depths  under  100  fathoms.  Sponges  exist 
*  Three  miles. 


138  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

everywhere,  though  less  abundantly  beyond  1,000  fathoms, 
and  one  coral  lives  at  all  known  depths. 

The. whole  of  the  Atlantic  basin,  to  the  depth  of  about 
2,200  fathoms,  is  covered  with  an  almost  uniform  greyish 
sediment,  which  to  the  naked  eye  appears  like  mud,  but  as 
seen  by  the  microscope  consists  of  very  minute  shells  and 
fragments  of  shells.  The  upper  surface  of  this  "ooze"  is 
of  a  creamy  consistency  and  is  made  up  chiefly  of  whole 
shells,  with  fragments  of  sponge  spicules,  and  a  con- 
siderable number  of  the  larger  shells  of  dead  mollusks, 
more  or  less  broken  and  worn.  At  all  moderate  depths, 
sponges,  corals,  star-fishes,  &c.,  live  in  and  upon  this  ooze, 
The  next  inch  or  two  below  the  surface  is  of  firmer  consis- 
tency, the  tiny  shells  being  more  or  less  broken  up  and 
cemented  into  a  calcareous  paste,  and  beneath  this,  again, 
whole  shells  and  even  fragments  are  rare,  and  the  paste  is 
almost  uniform. 

What  thickness  this  sediment  may  have  attained  is  un- 
known; but  in  past  ages  hundreds  of  square  miles  have 
been  covered  to  the  depth,  in  some  places,  of  a  thousand  feet 
or  more,  by  a  deposit  evidently  also  formed  at  the  bottom  of 
the  ocean,  and  bearing  a  very  strong  resemblance  to  the 
Atlantic  ooze,  which  may  fairly  be  called  chalk-mud — chalk 
which  has  not  yet  had  time  to  harden  into  rock,  but  which, 
should  it  do  so  hereafter,  will  greatly  resemble  the  chalk  of  the 
English  downs  and  cliffs.  For  that,  too,  consists  mainly  of 
microscopic  shells,  which,  though  almost  or  altogether  in- 
visible to  the  naked  eye,  are  of  shapes  as  various  and  beauti- 
ful as  any  of  the  larger  ones,  some  of  which  they  closely 
resemble.  (Fig.  28.) 


FORA  MINI  PER  A  .  139 

The  shells  of  these  foraminifera,  though  so  minute  that 
3,800,000  have  been  counted  in  an  ounce  of  sand  from  the 
Antilles,  are  divided,  like  those  of  the  nautilus,  into  chambers 
connected  by  minute  openings,  from  which  they  take  their 
name.*  The  shells  of  some  species  are  also  perforated  with 
innumerable  tiny  holes  through  which  the  inhabitant  pro- 
trudes hair-like  filaments  of  jelly.  Though  a  few  are  found 


Fig.  28.— FORAMINIFERAL  SHELLS. 

alive  in  the  ooze,  that  is  not  their  natural  home,  for 
they  live  on  the  surface  of  the  ocean,  and  if  they  are  as 
numerous  to  the  depth  of  100  fathoms  as  they  are  in 
the  track  of  the  tow-net,  every  square  mile  of  the  ocean 
must  contain  sixteen  tons  of  carbonate  of  lime,  in  the  form 
of  calcareous  shells.  These,  as  the  inhabitants  die,  fall  down 
in  a  constant  rain,  and  accumulate  on  the  ocean-bed.  In 
some  cases,  half  the  sand  on  the  sea-shore  is  made  up  of 
them,  and  they  have  had  a  large  share  also  in  the  formation 
of  coral  islands. 

They  abound  to  such  an  extent  in  the  limestone  used  for 

*  Latin,  foramen,  a  hole. 


140  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

building  in  Paris,  that  that  city,  as  well  as  many  towns  and 
villages  in  the  vicinity,  may  be  said  to  be  in  great  part  built 
of  them.  They  are  also  very  numerous  in  the  chalk  which 
extends  from  Paris  to  Tours,  a  distance  of  fifty  miles.  One 
species  alone  has  formed  enormous  beds  in  Russia,  while 
the  stone  of  the  Great  Pyramid  is  composed  chiefly  of  others 
called  Nummulites,*  which  are  the  most  highly  organised  of 
all  the  foraminifera,  and  are  the  giants  of  the  race,  being  of 
about  the  size  and  shape  of  a  shilling  (Fig.  29). 

One  band  of  nummulitic  limestone,  often  1,800  miles 
broad  and  in  many  parts  of  enormous  thickness,  extends 
along  the  Mediterranean  and  through  Western  Asia  to  the 
North  of  India  and  China. 

But  though  occurring  in  large  quantities  in  most  lime- 
stone, foraminifera  do  not  usually  form  so  large  a  propor- 
tion of  it  as  they  do  of  chalk,  which  may  well  be  called 
"  foraminiferal  limestone."  f 

A  slice  of  ordinary  limestone,  ground  so  thin  as  to  be 
transparent,  when  examined  by  the  microscope,  shows  that 
it  is  made  up  of  all  sorts  of  minute  fragments — bits  of  shell, 
seaweed-skeletons,  and  coral,  with  perhaps  a  few  perfect 
microscopic  shells  as  well.  It  bears,  in  fact,  a  strong  resem- 
blance to  the  coral-reef  rock,  which  contains  on  the  whole  but 
few  perfect  remains,  owing  to  the.  vigorous  way  in  which  it  is 
pounded  into  sand  by  the  waves,  though  large  mollusks,  and 
even  the  huge  Tridacna,  do  sink  or  burrow  their  way  into  it 
and  are  preserved. 

*  Latin,  nnmmulus,  a  small  piece  of  money. 

f  Shells  of  foraminifera  may  often  be  found  in  the  sand  which  comes  from 
a  new  piece  of  sponge. 


FOSSIL  CORALS. 


141 


Some  of  the  great  Swiss  mountains  may  be  just  parts  of 
an  ancient  coral-reef,  for  though  the  Jura  is  some  thousands 
of  feet  thick,  it  is  but  three-quarters  of  the  length  of  the 
barrier-reef  now  existing  off  the  coast  of  Australia;  and 


FIG.    29.  —   NUMMULITIC    ROCK,    SHOWING    SEVERAL   SPECIES  OF 

FORAMINIFERA. 

although  at  the  present  day  coral  does  not  grow  anywhere 
north  of  the  Bermudas,  it  evidently  did  so  in  the  warmer 
seas  of  ancient  times,  for  many  of  our  Devonshire  and 
Bristol  marbles  are  almost  entirely  composed  of  fossil 
corals. 


142  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

Though  the  name  of  "  marble,"  is  often  inaccurately  ap- 
plied to  any  stone  which  will  take  a  polish,  it  really  belongs 
only  to  hardened  limestones,  many  of  which  owe  their  beauty 
to  the  fossil  remains  which  they  enclose.  Some  consist 
almost  entirely  of  sea-shells,  others,  which  occur  only  in 
small  beds,  of  small  fresh-water  snail-shells,  while  another, 
again,  is  crowded  with  ammonites,  which  somewhat  resemble 
the  modern  nautilus,  and  also  with  the  internal  "  shell,"  or, 
rather,  single  bone,  which  formed  the  skeleton  of  the  ancient 
cuttle-fish.  Perhaps  the  most  beautiful  marble  of  all  is  that 
found  in  large  quantities  in  Derbyshire,  which  is  composed 
of  the  remains  of  encrinites,  or  stone-lilies,  a  sort  of  stalked 
star-fish,  having  cup-shaped  bodies  and  fringed  rays  with 
numerous  joints  which  they  could  spread  out  to  entrap  their 
prey.  The  stem  was  formed  of  innumerable  small,  star- 
shaped  pieces  of  hard  carbonate  of  lime,  and  was  so  pliant  as 
to  bend  to  and  fro  before  the  waves.  The  upper  part  of  one 
of  these  lilies  is  said  to  have  consisted  of  nearly  27,000 
separate  joints. 

Deep  beds  of  encrihital  limestone  have  been  formed  of 
the  skeletons  of  these  lilies,  which,  though  sometimes 
found  almost  entire,  are  generally  broken  into  a  thousand 
fragments.  It  had  been  thought  that  very  few  of  these 
stone-lilies  now  existed,  but  numerous  specimens  have 
lately  been  found  as  far  north  as  Siberia.  In  ancient 
times,  however,  they  were  far  more  abundant,  and  in  the 
north  of  Europe  and  America  there  are  vast  strata,  com- 
posed entirely  of  their  remains. 

It  is  no  mystery,  therefore,  what  becomes  of  the  moun- 
tains of  lime  which  are  carried  into  the  ocean,  where  the 


LIMESTONE  AND  MARBLE.  143 

innumerable  hosts  of  mollusks,  the  still  larger  hosts  of 
foraminifera  and  coral-polyps,  as  well  as  the  corallines  and 
other  sea-plants  are  waiting  for  it.  In  the  West  Indian  seas, 
where  coral  islands  abound,  it  is  disposed  of  so  rapidly  that 
the  water  contains  less  lime  than  elsewhere. 

And  now  as  to  the  way  in  which  these  animal  and  vege- 
table remains  may  be  converted  into  rock  and  marble. 

The  first  part  of  the  process  may  be  well  observed  in  the 
Bermuda  Islands,  which  are  surrounded  for  twenty  miles  by 
fine  coral  sand  which  the  waves  have  ground  from  the  coral 
reefs.  Some  of  this,  no  doubt,  is  washed  into  the  cracks  and 
crevices  of  the  reef,  and  helps  to  consolidate  it,  and  some 
may  be  re-dissolved.  But  much  of  it  is  washed  on  shore, 
dried  by  the  wind,  and  blown  into  hills  forty  or  fifty  feet  high, 
which  are  driven  farther  and  farther  inland,  and  unless  their 
progress  is  arrested  by  the  planting  of  shrubs,  &c.,  often 
overwhelm  both  gardens  and  houses  (Fig.  n). 

Exposure  to  the  air  deprives  the  sand  of  the  animal 
matter  mixed  with  it,  and  then,  like  any  other  carbonate  of 
lime,  it  is  readily  dissolved  by  water  and  carbonic  acid. 
When  rain  falls,  therefore,  a  little  of  the  lime  is  taken  up, 
sinks  with  it  through  the  sand,  and,  as  the  water  evaporates,  is 
deposited  as  a  cement  which  binds  the  loose  grains  together. 
This  process  being  constantly  repeated,  at  last  converts  the 
sand  into  rock  of  various  degrees  of  hardness,  some  being  so 
compact  as  to  be  almost  like  marble,  and  capable  of  taking 
a  fair  polish. 

All  the  sand  is  not  equally  affected,  for  the  rain  seems 
frequently  to  follow  certain  particular  channels  which  it  keeps 
open  and  hardens,  and  this,  together  with  the  fact  that  all  the 


144  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

lime  dissolved  is  not  re-deposited,  gives  rise  to  the  wonderful 
caverns  already  described,  whose  contents  have  of  course 
been  carried  back  to  the  ocean.  Thus  the  shells  and  skele- 
tons of  countless  former  generations  are  again  converted 
into  shells  and  skeletons  by  their  modern  descendants  and 
representatives. 

On  the  west  of  Ascension  Island,  to  take  one  of  many 
similar  instances,  the  beaches  are  heaped  with  rounded 
fragments  of  shells,  corals,  &c.,  which,  though  loose  on  the 
surface,  are,  at  the  depth  of  a  few  feet,  cemented  into  solid 
stone,  some  of  which  is  actually  too  hard  for  building  pur- 
poses and  has  the  ring  of  flint.  It  contains  very  few  perfect 
shells,  but  each  rounded  fragment  may  be  distinctly  seen  to 
be  surrounded  by  a  husk  of  transparent  carbonate  of  lime, 
and  the  stone  is  nearly  as  compact  as  marble  which  has 
been  subjected  to  heat  and  pressure. 

For  this. is  the  final  stage  in  the  process  by  which  coral- 
or  shell-sand  is  crystallised  at  last  into  the  sparkling  marble, 
much  resembling  loaf-sugar,  which  the  sculptor  uses  for  his 
statues.  Not  a  trace  of  shell  or  other  organic  remains  is  now 
left,  and  the  stone  is  so  fine-grained  and  snowy-white  that 
we  could  never  guess  its  origin,  did  we  not  in  many  instances 
actually  see  what  has  taken  place.  For  where  ordinary 
limestone,  whose  composition  we  can  see,  has  come  in  con- 
tact with  a  stream  of  lava,  all  traces  of  its  original  structure 
have  disappeared.  It  has,  in  fact,  been  melted,  and  on  cooling 
down  has  become  perfectly  crystalline ;  a  little  farther  off 
the  stone  is  hardened  and  partially  crystallised,  and  farther 
off  still  it  remains  unaltered,  being  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
heat. 


MAGNESIAN  LIMESTONE.  145 

Crystallisation  is  a  purifying  as  well  as  hardening  process, 
and  the  Carrara  marble,  which  is  sent  from  the  Apennines  to 
all  parts  of  the  world,  is  found  in  large  masses  of  dazzling 
whiteness,  embedded  in  stone  of  a  very  dark  colour,  con- 
sisting of  various  impurities,  such  as  animal  and  vegetable 
matter,  particles  of  flint,  &c.,  which  have  been  driven  to  the 
surface  by  the  process  of  crystallisation.  Part  of  this  dark 
stone  is  usually  left  on  the  blocks  of  marble  as  a  proof  of  its 
quality. 

The  most  highly  transparent  crystals  of  carbonate  of  lime 
are  those  known  as  Iceland  spar,  which  is  as  clear  as  glass 
and  quite  colourless. 

Some  limestones,  such  as  those  of  Westphalia,  contain  a 
large  amount  of  iron  which,  though  probably  derived  from 
sea-water,  is  more  than  could  be  separated  from  it  either  by 
animals  or  vegetables,  though  both  take  up  small  quantities, 
and  it  is  to  iron  that  red  coral  owes  its  colour.  The  bulk  of 
the  limestone-iron  was,  however,  probably  separated  by  a 
purely  chemical  process,  being  deposited  by  the  water  in  the 
place  of  a  corresponding  quantity  of  carbonate  of  lime. 

So,  too,  with  the  magnesian  limestones,  called  dolomite, 
which  contain,  some  of  them,  more  than  thirty  per  cent,  of 
carbonate  of  magnesia,  while  fresh  coral  contains  hardly  so 
much  as  one.  It  has  been  suggested  that,  as  the  ash  of  cer- 
tain fresh-water  plants  contains  a  good  deal  of  magnesia, 
some  dolomites  may  have  been  formed  by  them,  just  as  it  is 
thought  that  some  dark- coloured,  carbonaceous  limestones 
may  have  been  formed  by  the  decay  of  different  species  of 
Chara,  a  lime-absorbing  plant,  which  grows  in  great  profusion 
in  some  lakes  of  North  Germany. 
K 


146  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

But  some  dolomites  are  evidently  of  coral-reef  origin,  and 
since  we  know  of  no  plant  or  animal  which  could  have  taken 
up  magnesia  in  these  large  quantities,  we  must  conclude  that 
it  was  deposited  directly  from  the  water. 

Wherever  the  depth  of  the  Atlantic  exceeds  2,200 
fathoms,  there  the  calcareous  ooze  passes  gradually  into  a 
very  fine  reddish  or  chocolate-coloured  clay,  derived  ap- 
parently from  cosmic  and  volcanic  dust,  and  the  decay 
of  pumice-stone,  which  floats  long  distances  before  it  be- 
comes so  water-logged  as  to  sink.  The  clay  contains  a 
few  foraminifera,  &c.,  but  as  these  exist  everywhere,  from 
the  equator  to  the  regions  of  polar  ice,  and  their  shells 
must  be  falling  in  ceaseless  showers  all  over  the  oceans, 
one  wonders  what  has  become  of  them,  as  well  as  of  the 
shells  of  those  mollusks  which  float  about  in  multitudes 
in  mid- Atlantic. 

The  explanation  seems  to  be  that,  owing  to  the  greater 
depth  of  water  they  have  to  sink  through,  and  the  larger 
amount  of  carbonic  acid  present  at  great  depths,  they  are 
dissolved  before  they  reach  the  bottom,  and  the  shells 
of  the  mollusks  dissolve  more  quickly  than  those  of  the 
tiny  foraminifera. 

Quickly,  however,  they  none  of  them  dissolve,  for  the 
office  of  these  and  other  marine  animals  is  just  this  :  to 
separate  the  lime  from  sea-water,  and  protect  it  from  solution 
by  combining  it  with  organic  matter,  and  they  succeed  so 
well  that  their  calcareous  structures  dissolve  with  difficulty, 
even  in  hydrochloric  acid. 


147 


CHAPTER    X. 

WHAT    BECOMES    OF    THE    "  DUST " FLINT,    SALT,    ETC. 

What  becomes  of  Nature's  "  Dust" — Difference  between  Atlantic  Ooze  and 
Chalk — Origin  of  Flints— Sponges — An  Extensive  Pumping  Apparatus 
— Microscopic  Population  of  the  Ocean ;  Rapid  Multiplication — Micro- 
scopic Plants,  Seaweeds,  Kelp-making — Where  the  Salt  of  the  Sea 
comes  from — Animals  killed  by  drinking  River-water — The  Great 
Salt  Lake — What  would  happen  if  the  Straits  of  Gibraltar  were  closed 
— The  Dead  Sea — Circulation  of  the  Ocean. 

WE  mentioned  in  the  last  chapter  the  strong  resem- 
blance existing  between  the  Atlantic  ooze  and 
the  chalk,  which,  wherever  found,  has  evidently  been  formed 
in  a  similar  way.  But  there  is  one  great  difference  between 
them. 

Chalk,  especially  that  of  the  English  cliffs,  consists 
almost  entirely  of  carbonate  of  lime,  and  such  small  quan- 
tities of  other  minerals  as  it  contains  are  as  equally  mixed 
with  it  as  if  the  whole  had  been  well  stirred.  Flints  are 
very  commonly  associated  with  chalk,  and  sometimes  occur 
in  layers  or  sheets  at  almost  regular  intervals,  but  not  a 
particle  of  flint  is  scattered  about  in  the  chalk  itself. 

The  Atlantic  mud,  on  the  other  hand,  contains  no 
flints,  but  does  contain  a  large  proportion  of  silica  (twenty 
to  thirty  per  cent),  in  the  shape  of  cases,  sheaths,  and 
skeletons  of  minute  animals  and  vegetables,  and  the  bed 
of  the  Pacific  is  to  a  still  larger  extent  covered  with  these 
silicious  remains. 


148  THE  WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

Silica  is  not  enumerated  among  the  minerals  contained 
in  sea-water,  because  in  1,000  grains  the  quantity  is  so 
small  as  to  be  little  more  than  a  trace.  Silver,  gold,  and 
many  other  metals  and  minerals,  are  omitted  for  the  same 
reason.  But  if  there  be  but  a  trace  in  1,000  grains  the 
amount  dissolved  in  the  whole  of  the  ocean  will  be  far  from 
trifling.  It  has  been  calculated,  for  instance,  that  the  ocean 
must  contain  some  two  hundred  million  tons  of  silver. 

With  regard  to  the  silica,  we  know  that  it  exists  dis- 
solved in  all  water  more  or  less,  and  is,  therefore,  conveyed 
to  the  ocean  in  large  quantities ;  but,  like  the  lime,  it  is 
wanted  by  such  innumerable  living  things  that  little  remains 
in  the  water. 

Silica  also  is  greatly  attracted  by  dead  and  decaying 
substances,  and  collects  round  dead  sponges,  bits  of  coral, 
shells,  &c.,  and  sea-urchins  are  frequently  found  filled  with 
flint,  as  well  as  embedded  in  it. 

So  many  flints  have  more  or  less  the  shape  of  sponges 
that  it  seems  probable  these  formed  the  nucleus  round 
which  the  silica  collected ;  and,  indeed,  when  a  thin  slice 
of  flint  is  magnified,  it  is  very  often  found  to  contain 
various  minute  organisms,  such  as  sponges  are  known  to 
feed  upon. 

Toilet  sponges  consist  of  fine  elastic  fibres,  resembling 
silk  in  composition,  and  closely  woven  together.  But 
these  form  only  the  skeleton,  and  when  alive  were  covered 
within  and  without  with  a  film  of  jelly,  like  white  of  egg, 
but  consisting  of  numerous  individual  animals  or  living 
cells,  which  were  as  perpetually  changing  their  shape  as 
a  drop  of  liquid  kept  in  constant  motion. 


SPONGE  SPICULES. 


149 


Some  of  the  cells  being  provided  with  hair-like  lashes 
(cilia),  which  they  keep  waving  to  and  fro,  draw  the  water 
into  the  innermost  recesses  of  the  sponge  through  the 
minute  pores,  and  expel  it  again  through  the  large  holes, 


Fig-  30.— SPONGE  SPICULES. 

thus  keeping  up  a  constant  circulation,  by  means  of  which 
all  refuse  and  bad  air  are  carried  off;  for  though  they 
cannot  be  said  to  breathe,  they  do  take  up  oxygen,  and 
give  off  carbonic  acid.* 

*  Professor  Huxley  compares  the  sponge  with  a  kind  of  subaqueous  city, 
where  the  people  are  arranged  about  the  streets  and  roads  in  such  a  manner 
that  each  can  easily  appropriate  his  food  from  the  water  as  it  passes  along. 


150  THE  WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

The  fibres  of  the  skeleton  are,  for  the  most  part,  of 
uniform  size,  but  here  and  there  one  is  thicker  than  the 
rest,  and  contains  a  thorn  of  flint,  called  a  "  spicule." 
These  are  rarely  found  in  the  sponges  sold  for  toilet  pur- 
poses, but  the  skeletons  of  other  kinds  are  frequently 
strengthened  by  them.  Though  usually  of  flint  they  are 
sometimes  of  carbonate  of  lime,  and  though  all  of  micro- 
scopic size,  the  variety  in  their  shapes  is  simply  endless. 
There  are  fairy  fish-hooks,  crochet-hooks,  stars,  and  toasting- 
forks,  looking  as  if  they  were  made  of  glass  of  different 
colours.  (Fig.  30.) 

In  some  sponges  the  skeleton  is  entirely  composed  of 
spicules  of  carbonate  of  lime ;  and  in  many  both  fibres  and 
spicules  are  of  silica.  One  of  these  latter,  called  "  Venus's 
Flower-basket"  (Fig.  31,  A),  from  its  great  beauty,  is  a 
tapering  tube  curved  like  a  horn,  which  looks  exactly  as 
if  woven  out  of  white  spun  glass,  so  regular  is  the  network. 
When  alive  it  is  covered  with  a  film  of  greyish-brown  jelly, 
and  lives  half-buried  in  mud,  into  which  it  is  prevented 
from  sinking  by  a  fringe-like  root  of  glassy  spicules. 

Another  kind,  called  the  glass-rope  sponge,  or  sea-whip 
(Fig.  31,  B),  has  long  roots  of  transparent,  colourless 
silica,  like  threads  of  glass,  some  as  fine  as  hair,  others 
as  coarse  as  twine,  which  are  twisted  into  a  coil  about  a 
quarter  of  an  inch  thick,  and  some  twenty  or  more  inches 
long.  The  roots  are  buried  in  mud,  and  the  soft  sponge 
grows  above,  but  the  whole  was  thought  to  look  so  "un- 
natural "  that,  as  the  first  specimens  were  brought  from 
Japan,  they  were  believed  to  be  artificial  productions. 
Fine  sea-whips  have,  however,  been  found  off  the  coast 


A  MICROSCOPIC  POPULATION.  151 

of  Portugal  and  elsewhere,  so  there  is  no  longer  any  doubt 
of  their  genuineness. 

It  is,  however,    the   smaller  and   chiefly  invisible  or- 


Fig.    31.— SPONGES: 


A,   VENUS'S  FLOWER-BASKET;    B,   GLASS-ROPE 
SPONGE. 


ganisms  which  use  up  most  of  the  silica  carried  into  the 
ocean,  and  which  have  left  the  most  extensive  remains. 

Professor  Bischof  compares  them  with  an  extensive 
pumping  apparatus,  so  enormous  are  the  quantities  of  water 
perpetually  passing  through  them.  A  hundred  millions 
weigh  less  than  one  grain,  but  being  full-grown  in  twenty-four 


152  THE  WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

hours,  each  individual  must  in  that  time  imbibe  at  least 
19-2  grains  (about  nineteen  drops),  or  33,333  times  its  own 
weight,  of  water,  in  order  to  obtain  the  silica  required  for 
its  case  or  sheath.*  Nineteen  drops  !  The  quantity  sounds 
insignificant ;  but  if  human  beings  drank  at  the 
same  rate  in  proportion  to  their  size,  each  would 
swallow  five  million  pounds  in  twenty-four  hours, 
or  enough  to  drive  a  mill-wheel. 

This  microscopic  population  is  so  vast  that  we 
cannot  form  the  faintest  idea  of  its  numbers,  but 
we  do  know  that  one  species  is  capable  of 
multiplying  four-fold  in  from  twenty-four  to  thirty 
hours,  so  that  in  ten  days  a  million  individuals 
might  spring  from  one  parent. 

But  one  little  animal,  the  Rotifer,  multiplies 
faster  still,  and  in  thirty  days  might  have  a  trillion 
descendants,  the  weight  of  whose  silicious  sheaths 
Fig.    32.—  would  be  65,ooolbs.  ;  and  supposing  the  mass  to 
ROTIFERN  be  of  the  density  °f  "  mountain-meal,"  it  might 
form  a  bed  of  silica  twenty-five  square  miles  in 
extent,  and  about  one  foot  and  three-quarters  thick. 

The  Rotifers,  or  wheel-animalculse  (Fig.  32),  so  called 
from  the  wheel-like  arrangement  of  cilia  with  which  they 
are  furnished,  are  much  higher  up  in  the  scale  of  life  than 
the  Infusoria,  though  so  minute  that  one  species,  having 
a  single  ruby-like  eye,  measures  only  yj-gth  of  an  inch  in 

*  As  already  stated,  1,000  grains  of  sea-water  contain  but  a  minute 
quantity  of  dissolved  silica,  and  as  it  is  unlikely  that  the  diatom  or  in- 
fusorian  extracts  the  whole  amount,  they  probably  swallow  much  more 
than  nineteen  drops. 


THE  INFUSORIA. 


153 


length  and  ^-Joth  in  breadth.  They  inhabit  both  fresh  and 
salt  water,  and  some  have  sheaths  and  some  not.  . 

The  Infusoria  are  likewise  furnished  with  cilia,  by 
means  of  which  they  move  and  bring  their  food  within 
reach,  and  having  mouths,  are  superior  to  the  Foraminifera 
and  other  Protozoa,  or  lowest  forms  of  animal  life,  which 
can  hardly  be  said  to 
have  any  organs,  and 
absorb  their  food 
through  the  whole  sur- 
face of  their  bodies, 
which  are  but  specks  of 
slime  or  jelly. 

Many  of  the  Infu- 
soria are  covered  by  a 
sheath  or  shell,  and 
most  commonly  in- 
crease by  the  simple 
process  of  splitting 
themselves  in  two. 

They  multiply  so  rapidly  that  one  (Polygastria)  may  in 
forty- eight  hours  have  given  rise  to  a  progeny  too  large  .to 
be  expressed  in  numbers. 

Below  the  Infusoria,  are  the  Polycystinae,  or  Radiolaria, 
which  are  nearly  allied  to  the  Foraminifera,  but  have  shells 
of  flint  often  set  all  over  with  hair-like  needles,  the  whole 
shell,  needles  and  all,  being  a  mere  speck  of  the  size  of 
a  grain  of  sand.  (Fig.  33.)  Some  are  extremely  beautiful 
objects  when  magnified,  and  resemble  the  carved  ivory  balls 
for  which  the  Chinese  are  noted.  Notwithstanding  their 


33.— SKELETON  OF  RADIOLARIAN. 


154  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

extreme  minuteness,  they  have  formed  whole  beds  of 
silicious  rock,  such  as  that  known  as  "  Barbadoes  earth," 
which  is  almost  entirely  composed  of  their  shields. 

Among  the  most  important  consumers  of  silica,  how- 
ever, are  the  microscopic  plants  called  Diatomaceae  (Fig.  5), 
which  swarm  on  the  surface  of  the  ocean,  and  are  found, 
more  or  less,  in  all  waters,  salt  or  fresh,  and  in  all  latitudes. 

In  warm  weather  they  sometimes  form  a  mouldy  cover- 
ing, half  an  inch  thick,  on  stagnant  water;  sometimes 
they  collect  in  a  yellow-brown  layer  at  the  bottom  of 
ponds,  or  on  water-plants,  stones,  mosses  ;  or  they  may  be 
found  filling  the  towing-net  in  the  Antarctic  regions,  and 
staining  the  floating  ice  with  an  ochreous  tinge.  They 
are  one-celled  plants,  consisting  usually,  as  their  name 
implies,  of  two  symmetrical  portions,  or  valves,  which  are 
coated  with  pure  silica.  The  variety  in  their  shapes  is 
endless  and  wonderful,  and  almost  all  are  delicately  marked 
and  sculptured  with  bands  of  dots  and  lines. 

Yet  in  spite  of  the  exquisite  beauty  of  their  glass  cases, 
they  are  so  minute  that  41,000,000,000  could  be  accommo- 
dated in  one  cubic  inch  of  space,  and  186,000,000  would 
weigh  but  a  grain  and  look  to  the  naked  eye  like  a  mere 
pinch  of  dust.  They  multiply  rapidly,  however,  and  one  may 
become  8,000,000  in  forty-eight  hours,  while  in  four  days  its 
progeny  will  fill  two  cubic  feet  of  space. 

It  is  these  diatoms  which  are  the  main  cause  of  the 
silting  up  of  harbours.  At  Wismar,  on  the  Baltic,  they 
accumulate  at  the  rate  of  17,496  cubic  feet  annually, 
enough  to  form  a  solid  cube  measuring  twenty-six  feet  each 
way.  As  they  die,  their  cases  fall  through  the  water,  in  a 


MICROSCOPIC  PLANTS.  155 

constant,  steady  shower,  and  in  the  course  of  ages  they 
have  formed  deposits  many  miles  in  extent  and  many 
fathoms  thick.  The  thickest  known  deposit  is  that  upon 
which  Berlin  is  built,  which  is  eighty-four  feet  deep  ;  there 
is  another  eighteen  feet  thick  beneath  Richmond  (Virginia) ; 
and  one  at  St.  Petersburg  is  thirty  feet  thick. 

The  "polishing  slate"  of  Bilin,  "  mountain-meal  "  of 
Sweden  and  Tuscany,  "  Richmond  earth,"  kieselguhr,  or 
"flint  froth "  of  Germany,  the  "Tripoli  stone"  of  Africa, 
Italy,  Bohemia,  Germany,  France,  and  the  United  States, 
as  well  as  the  beds  of  white  earth  on  the  banks  of  the 
Amazons,  and  the  "  Bath-brick  "  from  the  bed  of  the  river 
Parret,  in  Somersetshire,  all  consist  chiefly  or  wholly  of  the 
indestructible  cases  of  diatoms  and  other  minute  organisms, 
some  deposited  in  fresh,  others  in  salt  water.  * 

The  "  infusorial  earth "  of  Nova  Scotia — so  called, 
though  the  vegetable  nature  of  the  diatoms  has  long  been 
established — looks  much  like  chalk,  and  is  a  very  light, 
white,  friable  earth,  which,  when  examined  by  a  bright 
light,  shows  an  infinite  number  of  glistening  specks  of 
pure  silica,  whose  hardness  and  sharpness  make  them  use- 
ful for  polishing. 

"Electro-silicon"  or  "magic  brilliant,"  the  white  sub- 
stance employed  for  cleaning  jewellery,  is  also  a  diatom 
earth  found  in  Nevada. 

In  Lapland  a  similar  earth  is  mixed  with  bark  and  used 
as  food,  and  in  America  the  farmers  have  been  trying  it  as 

*  Rottenstone  has  a  different  origin.  Carbonated  water  has  filtered 
through  beds  of  silicious  limestone,  carrying  away  the  lime  and  leaving  a 
light  porous  residuum  of  flint. 


156  THE   WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

manure  to  supply  the  lack  of  silica.  Some  of  these  earths, 
whether  of  animal  or  vegetable  origin,  have  been  mixed 
with  clay  and  lime,  and  made  into  "  floating  bricks,"  one- 
sixth  the  weight  of  ordinary  bricks,  and  fireproof ;  some  are 
added  to  sealing-wax,  paper,  soap,  indiarubber  and  model- 
ling-clay, to  give  consistency,  and,  finally,  the  once  harmless 
little  vegetables  are  mixed  with  nitroglycerine  and  con- 
verted into  dynamite  ! 

Nature  acts  more  kindly  by  them,  and  is  believed  to 
have  turned  some  of  them  into  semi-opals. 

One  of  the  most  important  ends  served  by  the  diatoms, 
however,  is  that  of  being  food  for  many  of  the  lower 
animals,  especially  the  Protozoa,  among  which  we  may 
mention  the  beautiful  little  Noctiluca,  or  "  night-light," 

30,000  of  which  may  be 
contained  in  one  cubic 
inch  of  water.  They  are 
themselves  shell-less, 
moulded  in  the  shape  of 
melons,  the  largest  hardly 
bigger  than  the  head  of  a 
minikin  pin,  and  are  bril- 

Fig.  34.-NOCTILUCA  MILIARIS.        liantly       phosphorescent. 

(Fig.    34.)       At     certain 

seasons  they  crowd  the  waves  in  such  multitudes  that  one 
will  be  found  in  each  drop  of  water.  Phosphorescence  in 
the  open  sea  is,  however,  said  to  be  produced  chiefly  by  a 
minute  plant  (Pyroristis)  of  the  [size  of  a  pin's  head,  which 
is  very  abundant  far  from  land  and,  like  the  diatom,  also 
has  a  thin  casing  of  silica. 


FOOD  OF  DEEP-SEA  ANIMALS.  157 

But  diatoms  contribute  indirectly  to  the  nourishment 
even  of  the  great  North  Atlantic  whales,  for  these  feed 
chiefly  on  the  acorn-like*  medusae,  brought  to  them  by  the 
Gulf  Stream,  which  sometimes  cover  the  ocean  so  thickly 
as  to  make  it  look  like  a  prairie  strewn  with  yellow  leaves. 
Each  medusa  consists  of  from  five  to  nine  lobes,  and  as 
each  lobe  has  been  found  filled  with  diatoms  to  the  number 
of  700,000,  each  individual  must  swallow  from  three  and  a 
half  to  more  than  six  millions  at  a  meal. 

Diatoms  have  another  important  function,  which  will  be 
referred  to  later,  but  the  countless  millions  which  are  for 
ever  dying  and  sinking  must  form  a  considerable  item  in 
the  bill  of  fare  of  many  of  the  creatures  which  live  at  the 
bottom  of  the  sea,  and  are  therefore  wholly  dependent  upon 
what  is  brought  to  them.  For  there  are  no  beds  of  weed  to 
which  they  can  go  for  a  meal.  Seaweeds  require  a  certain 
amount  of  light,  and  usually  form  only  a  fringe  about  a 
mile  wide  round  the  coast,  being  practically  limited  to  depths 
of  less  than  a  hundred  fathoms,  though  stragglers  are  met 
with  here  and  there.  * 

The  average  depth  of  the  ocean  between  60°  N.  and 
60°  S.  is  2,500  fathoms,  and  the  population  would  be 
scanty  indeed  if  they  lived  only  on  such  pieces  of  weed  as 
are  torn  from  the  coast.  Besides  the  deep-sea  dwellers, 
there  are  not  only  the  Foraminifera  already  mentioned,  but, 
in  the  hotter  seas,  vast  multitudes  of  the  wing-footed 
mollusks,  called  pteropoda  from  the  fin-like  lobes  projecting 
from  their  sides,  which  live  in  and  on  the  surface  of 

*  The  most  highly  sensitive  photograph  plates  remain   unaltered  166 
feet  below  the  surface. 


THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 


the    water   far   away   from   the    seaweeds    on    the    coast. 

(Fig.  35-) 

In  addition  to  the   diatoms,  however,  the  inhabitants 
of  the   ocean   may   feed   on   the  great  masses  of  floating 
weed,  such  as   the  Sargasso,  or  Gulf  weed,   which  occurs 
in  some  parts  of  the  Atlantic  over  a  space  of  3,000,000 
square    miles,    in    olive    or    golden    patches    of    various 
sizes,  from  a  few  feet   to  several 
acres,   with    lanes    of   dark   blue 
water  between.     There  is  a  simi- 
lar, but  smaller  mass  of  weed  in 
the  North  Pacific ;  and  such  mul- 
titudes of  fishes,   mollusks,  crus- 
taceans, zoophytes,  &c.,  dwell  in 
and  feed  on  these  ocean  prairies, 
that  the  destruction  of  one  of  them 
would  probably  occasion   greater 
loss  of  life  than  the  destruction  of 
a    large    forest    on    land.      The 

Giant  Kelp,  which  grows  at  Tierra  del  Fuego  to  the 
length  of  360  feet,  is  also  sometimes  met  with  in  a  floating 
condition.* 

Seaweeds  differ  from  land  plants  in  this,  that  they  have 
no  true  roots,  and  the  tough,  leathery  fibre  or  disk  which 
takes  the  place  of  these,  only  clasps  and  does  not  penetrate 
the  rocks,  from  which,  therefore,  it  derives  no  nourishment. 
All  their  food  comes  from  the  sea,  and  much  is  supplied  to 
them  by  the  rivers. 


Fig.  35. — PTEROPOD  OR  WING 

FOOTED  MOLLUSK. 


*  Lowly  algae  also  abound,  and,  indeed,  the  surface  water  of  the  open 
ocean  is  full  of  vegetable  life. 


"KELP."  159 

Many  seaweeds  grow  with  great  rapidity,  and  rocks 
which  have  been  not  only  cleared  but  chiselled  smooth,  are 
found  covered  in  less  than  six  months  with  a  dense  growth 
of  weed  from  two  to  six  feet  long,  which  must  have  sprung 
from  seed.  Besides  silica  and  lime,  they  take  up  other 
minerals.  Some  take  large  quantities  of  magnesia ;  iodine, 
in  combination  with  sodium  and  magnesium,  is  obtained 
from  the  ash  of  certain  species,  and  some  of  the  olive- 
coloured  fuci  contain  so  much  sulphuric  acid  that  where 
they  are  thrown  up  in  large  heaps  and  left  to  decompose,  as 
is  the  case  at  Copenhagen,  the  silver  in  the  neighbouring 
houses  quickly  turns  black.  Most  sea-weed  ash  contains 
more  or  less  soda,  and  that  of  the  bladder  fucus  and  some 
other  olive  seaweeds,  yields  so  much  that  in  former  times 
many  people  made  their  living  by  it.  The  weeds  were 
burnt  in  pits,  and  the  dark-brown,  half  glassy-looking  cakes 
of  ashes,  called  "kelp,"  were  sold  for  glass-  and  soap-making, 
bleaching,  and  other  purposes.  Scotland  and  her  islands 
at  one  time  supplied  20,000  tons  of  kelp  annually ;  but  the 
kelp-burners  do  little  now,  as  the  carbonate  of  soda,  or  soda 
ash,  is  now  manufactured  in  enormous  quantities  directly 
from  sea-salt.  How  does  the  salt,  which  sea-water  contains 
in  such  abundance,  get  into  the  sea  ?  Like  the  other 
minerals,  it  is  brought  by  the  rivers ;  but  this  some  people 
find  it  difficult  to  believe,  since  river-water  is  fresh,  not 
salt,  and  they  prefer  therefore  to  adopt  the  old  notion  that 
there  are  vast  beds  of  salt  somewhere  in  the  ocean.  These 
beds  have  not  been  discovered,  however,  and  are  therefore, 
at  present  at  all  events,  wholly  imaginary,  whereas  it  is  no 
imagination,  but  an  ascertained  fact,  that  all  spring  water, 


160  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

and  almost  all  fresh  water,  contains  a  small  quantity  of 
salt. 

Common  rock-salt  is  a  compound  of  the  gas  chlorine 
with  the  metal  sodium,  hence  called  chloride  of  sodium. 
Various  compounds  of  chlorine  (chlorides)  are  found  in 
granite,  mica,  and  many  other  minerals,  as  well  as  in 
volcanic  rocks;  and  compounds  of  sodium  exist  in  such 
enormous  quantities  that  not  a  single  minute  speck  of  dust 
is  said  to  be  free  from  them. 

Lava  is  frequently  found  covered  with  crystals  of  salt  a 
few  days  after  it  has  been  poured  forth  ;  sometimes  large 
masses  of  salt  are  thrown  out,  and  after  some  eruptions  of 
Mount  Hecla  enough  has  been  found  to  load  several  horses. 

There  is  no  mystery,  therefore,  as  to  whence  the  rivers 
might  be  supplied  with  salt ;  but  as  the  quantity  they  convey 
is  usually  too  small  to  destroy  their  sweetness,  it  may  at  first 
sight  seem  strange  that  it  should  be  .enough  to  make  the  sea 
so  intensely  salt.  But  if  only  a  small  quantity  of  salt  is 
being  constantly  added,  while  a  much  smaller  quantity  is 
withdrawn,  any  body  of  water  must  become  perceptibly 
salt  in  time.  We  know  that  river  water  contains  a  minute 
quantity  of  salt,  though  our  taste  is  unable  to  detect  it. 
Sometimes,  however,  we  can  even  taste  it. 

During  the  great  drought  in  La  Plata,  which  lasted  from 
1827  to  1830,  when  the  land  became  so  loaded  with  dust 
that  old  landmarks  were  obliterated,  and  much  confusion 
and  even  lawsuits  were  the  consequence,  evaporation  went 
on  rapidly,  and  as,  in  addition  to  this,  the  rivers  were  fed 
entirely  by  springs,  many  of  the  small  ones  became  so  salt 
as  to  kill  the  animals  which  drank  of  them. 


THE  GREAT  SALT  LAKE.  161 

Evaporated  water,  as  has  been  said,  is  almost  pure ; 
chlorides  and  other  *  salts  and  minerals  are  left  behind  and 
accumulate,  so  that  the  smaller  the  body  of  water  became 
the  salter  it  would  be.  This  is  what  has  taken  place  in  the 
Great  Salt  Lake  of  Utah,  which  was  formerly  much  larger 
and  filled  with  fresh  water,  as  is  evident  from  the  remains  of 
fresh-water  shells  on  its  ancient  beach.  At  that  time  it  had 
an  outlet  into  the  Snake  River  and  so  to  the  Pacific,  and  its 
waters  were  kept  in  a  constant  state  of  circulation  ;  whereas, 
now  that  it  has  shrunk  and  has  no  outlet,  all  that  is  brought 
into  it  must  needs  remain,  with  the  exception  of  the  water, 
which  is  constantly  evaporating,  and  that,  too,  a  little  faster 
than  it  is  poured  in  by  the  feeding  streams.  Consequently, 
the  lake  must  still  be  growing  smaller  and  salter. 

The  water  is  in  fact  far  salter  than  that  of  the  sea,  being 
saturated,  i.e.,  it  contains  as  much  as  it  can  hold,  and  de- 
posits of  salt  are  formed  on  the  cliffs  and  rocks.  If  ever 
the  whole  body  of  water  should  be  evaporated,  beds  of  pure 
rock-salt  would  remain  behind. 

Salt  beds  are  forming  at  the  present  day  on  the  borders 
of  the  Black  Sea,  where  all  the  rivers  between  the  Danube 
and  Dnieper  widen  out  into  shallow  lakes,  which  are  sepa- 
rated from  the  sea  by  narrow  dams.  Some  of  these  lakes 
become  partially  dry  every  summer,  and  salt  is  then  depo- 
sited in  thin  layers  round  the  margin,  but  often  as  much  as  a 

*  A  salt  is  the  substance  formed  when  an  acid  combines  with  an  alkali 
and  forms  a  body  neither  acid  nor  alkaline,  but  neutral.     Thus  : — 
Sodium  and  sulphuric  acid  make  glauber  salts. 
Sodium  and  nitric  acid  ,,      Chili  saltpetre. 

Potassium  and  nitric  acid       , ,      nitre  or  saltpetre. 
Calcium  and  sulphuric  acid    , .      gypsum  or  calcium  sulphate. 
L 


1 62  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

foot  thick  in  the  middle.  As  much  as  216,000,000  pounds 
were  obtained  one  year,  for  one  of  the  lakes  is  forty  miles  wide. 

Supposing  communication  were  cut  off  between  the  Black 
Sea,  Mediterranean,  and  Atlantic,  then  as  the  water  removed 
by  evaporation  would  exceed  that  received  by  the  rivers,  the 
seas  would  become  salter  and  salter  until  the  water  was 
saturated,  after  which  all  the  salt  which  could  not  be  held 
in  solution  would  simply  fall  to  the  bottom  and  there  accu- 
mulate. Something  of  this  sort  has  probably  taken  place 
in  the  Dead  Sea,  which  has  nowhere  any  visible  outlet.* 

The  salt  we  use  with  our  food  is  manufactured  from 
the  Cheshire  and  Worcestershire  brine-springs,  which  have 
flowed  through  beds  of  salt  and  are  in  many  cases  almost 
saturated.  They  are  known  to  have  flowed  for  1,000  years, 
and  as  1,630,000  tons  of  salt  have  been  obtained  in  one 
year  from  the  Cheshire  springs  alone,  they  must  have  con- 
veyed enormous  quantities  to  the  Mersey,  and  so  back  to 
the  sea.  Much  of  the  ChesTrire  rock-salt  is  so  pure  as  to 
need  nothing  but  crushing  before  it  is  fit  for  use. 

Another  mineral  often  found  with  rock-salt  is  gypsum,  or 
sulphate  of  lime,  which  is  the  first  to  separate  and  fall  to  the 
bottom  when  sea-water  is  evaporated.  Beds  of  salt  and 
gypsum  two  feet  thick  have  been  formed  on  the  rocks  in 
some  places  simply  by  the  evaporation  of  spray. 

Gypsum,  when  burnt,  and  thus  freed  from  water,  is  called 
plaster  of  Paris ;  this  is  made  into  a  paste  with  water  and 
used  for  making  casts  and  moulds. 

If  all  the  invisible  salts  of  the  sea  could  be  extracted, 
they  would  cover  several  millions  of  square  miles  one  mile 

*  Sea-water  is  not  nearly  saturated. 


EVAPORATION  IN  THE  TROPICS.  163 

deep ;  and  yet  all  this  vast  amount  of  matter  makes  no  differ- 
ence in  the  bulk  of  the  ocean,  whose  waters  would  occupy 
as  much  space  if  it  were  all  taken  away.  It  does,  however, 
affect  the  weight  of  the  water,  which  is  much  heavier  than 
fresh  water,  and  is  heaviest  where  it  is  saltest 

So  perfectly  is  the  circulation  of  the  ocean  maintained, 
by  means  of  currents,  &c.,  that  sea-water,  varies  little  in 
composition  all  over  the  world  ;  and  even  before  the  cutting 
of  the  Suez  Canal,  the  waters  of  the  Mediterranean  and  Red 
Sea  contained  the  same  minerals,  though  the  latter  is  not 
fed  by  a  single  Triver  or  brook,  and  communicates  with  the 
Indian  Ocean,  while  the  former  opens  into  the  Atlantic. 

As,  however,  evaporation  takes  place  from  the  surface, 
the -surface  water  becomes  slightly  salter,  but  as  it  also  be- 
comes heavier,  it  sinks,  the  lighter  water  from  below  taking 
its  place,  and  as  a  constant  exchange  is  thus  kept  up,  no  one 
part  can  be  much  salter  than  another.  , 

In  the  tropics,  where  evaporation  goes  on  rapidly,  and 
on  coasts  where  much  water  is  locked  up  in  the  form  of  ice, 
which  is  always  fresh,  a  slight  increase  of  saltness  is  observ- 
able. 


164 


CHAPTER  XL 

VEGETABLE    SCAVENGERS. 

Drowned  Fishes — Burning  and  Breathing — How  Fire  may  be  Extinguished 
— Carbonic  Acid  Gas:  how  produced,  how  disposed  of ;  taken  up  by 
Leaves — Quantity  required  by  Beech  Forest — Oxygen  returned  to  the 
Air ;  Seaweeds  as  Scavengers  -  Carbon  in  Vegetable  Oils,  Acids, 
Sugars,  Starch,  Gums,  Perfumes— Other  refuse  Gases— Fungi  as 
Scavengers— Fermentation  and  Putrefaction— Floating  Matter  of  the 
Air. 

WHEN  Professor  Nordenskjold  was  in  the  Arctic  Ocean 
he  noticed  that  in  one  spot  there  were  innumer- 
able dead  fishes.  A  shoal  had  evidently  been  entangled 
among  the  ice,  and  becoming  enclosed  in  a  narrow  space, 
had  been  droivned  ! 

"  But  how  can  fishes  possibly  be  drowned  ?  "  some  one 
may  ask.  Well,  a  man  drowns  for  want  of  air,  if  his  head  be 
kept  under  water,  for  drowning  is  practically  the  same  thing 
as  suffocation  ;  and  the  fish,  though  it  lives  in  water,  needs 
air  as  well  as  other  animals,  and  being  unable  to  decompose 
the  water,  and  so  obtain  oxygen,  is  dependent  upon  that 
which  is  dissolved  in  the  water.  When  that  is  exhausted  it 
must  needs  be  suffocated. 

But  why  should  not  the  same  air  be  breathed  over  and 
over  again  ? 

On  one  occasion  M.  Huber,  having  closed  the  entrance 
of  a  bee-hive,  noticed  that,  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  the  bees 
became  uneasy,  ceased  working,  and  began  vibrating  their 


BURNING  AND  BREATHING.  165 

wings  in  great  agitation.  In  about  thirty-seven  minutes  they 
were  exhausted  and  fell  down  ;  thousands  strewed  the  floor 
of  the  hive,  and  all  would  have  been  suffocated  had  the  ex- 
periment been  continued.  As  it  was,  the  admission  of  fresh 
air  revived  them. 

Evidently,  therefore,  the  breathed  air  had  been  so  altered 
as  to  be  incapable  of  supporting  life.  When  air  passes  into 
the  lungs  of  an  animal,  part  of  the  oxygen  unites  with  the 
carbon  present  in  the  blood  and  oxidises  or  burns  it,  with  the 
result  that  carbonic  acid  gas  (carbon  dioxide)  is  formed.*  A 
similar  thing  happens  when  we  burn  wax,  tallow,  oil,  gas, 
£c.,  all  of  which  consist  of  carbon  and  hydrogen  variously 
modified.  Part  of  the  oxygen  of  the  air  unites  with  the  car- 
bon, producing  carbonic  acid,  and  part  with  the  hydrogen 
producing  water.  The  latter  we  can  see  by  covering  a  bit 
of  lighted  candle  with  a  tumbler,  which  will  at  once  become 
clouded  with  dew.f 

But  the  flame  burns,  as  the  animal  breathes,  only  while 
it  has  enough  oxygen,  and  as  there  is  but  little  in  a  tumbler, 
it  goes  out  in  a  few  moments.  Not  that  the  oxygen  is  entirely 
exhausted,  but  the  proportion  being  too  small,  the  flame  is 
stifled.  Hence  carbonic  acid  may  be  used  for  extinguishing 
fires,  and  one  which  had  been  burning  in  a  coal  mine  thirty 
years  was,  in  1851,  successfully  smothered  by  this  means. 

This  carbonic  acid  is  the  refuse  we  are  now  to  consider. 

This  gas  is  one  and  a  half  times  as  heavy  as  the  air,  so 

*  One  atom  of  carbon  and  two  of  oxygen  make  a  molecule  of  carbon 
dioxide. 

f  When  a  lamp  is  first  lighted,  the  glass,  being  cold,  is  similarly  clouded, 
until  the  dew  is  evaporated  by  the  heat  of  the  flame. 


1 66  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

heavy  that  it  can  be  poured  from  one  vessel  into  another  ; 
yet  instead  of  resting  upon  the  earth,  as  we  might  expect,  it 
mounts  up  and  mingles  with  the  other  gases  of  the  atmo- 
sphere. 

By  heating  twelve  grains  of  carbon*  in  thirty-two  grains 
of  oxygen  we  produce  forty-four  grains  of  colourless  gas, 
which  when  frozen  resembles  snow. 

Ordinary  air  contains  about  ^-gVff  of  the  gas,  but  there  is 
much  more  in  the  air  of  our  rooms,  owing  to  the  presence  of 
fires  and  lights,  as  well  as  our  own  breathing.  The  air  we 
breathe  out  contains  from  three  to  six  per  cent',  of  carbonic 
acid,  and  not  enough  to  keep  a  candle  alight. 

A  man  breathes  out  about  a  cubic  foot  f  of  the  gas  in  an 
hour  and  a  half,  and  as  one  in  a  thousand  is  enough  to  make 
the  air  unwholesome,  his  breath  alone  would  make  the  air  of 
a  room,  measuring  ten  feet  each  way,  unfit  for  respiration  in 
that  time,  supposing  it  to  be  air-tight.  He  would  be  able, 
indeed,  to  go  on  breathing  some  time  longer,  but  would 
feel  drowsy  and  heavy ;  two  per  cent,  of  the  gas  would  give 
him  severe  headache  (even  one  per  cent,  is  not  long  to  be 
endured),  and  ten  per  cent,  would  stop  his  breathing 
altogether. 

Fortunately  our  houses  are  not  air-tight,  but  if  we  close 
our  doors  and  windows,  cover  all  cracks  and  crevices  with 
list  and  sandbags,  shut  down  the  register,  or  put  a  chimney- 
board  before  the  fire-place,  and  then  sleep  in  a  room  ten  feet 
square,  the  amount  of  fresh  air  which  can  come  in  is  so  small 
that  we  must  needs  breathe  what  is  unwholesome  during  the 

*  The  "black-lead  "  of  our  pencils  is  pure  carbon,  so  also  is  the  diamond, 
f  Nearly  four  and  one-third  gallons  per  hour. 


CARBON  AND  CARBON  DIOXIDE.  167 

greater  part  of  the  night,  and  it  is  no  wonder  if  we  awake 
with  a  headache  and  feeling  unrefreshed.  The  case  is 
worse  still  if  we  keep  the  gas  burning,  or  even  "  just  a  bead," 
as  some  are  fond  of  doing. 

Those  who  live  in  towns  are  so  accustomed  to  breathe 
air  which  is  not  quite  pure  that  they  do  not  notice  it  unless  it 
be  worse  than  usual,  but  an  Arab,  fresh  from  the  pure  air  of 
the  desert,  wears  a  frown  of  disgust  when  business  obliges 
him  to  enter  a  town,  and  usually  goes  about  with  cotton  in 
his  nostrils  or  a  handkerchief  drawn  over  his  nose,  and  if 
obliged  to  pass  a  night  within  the  walls,  will  at  least  not  sleep 
under  a  roof. 

It  is  computed  that  Manchester,  with  its  large  population 
and  numerous  furnaces,  engine-fires,  &c.,  produces  some 
15,066  tons  of  carbonic  acid  gas  every  day;  and  the  inhabi- 
tants of  London  send  up  some  800  tons  of  carbon  into  the 
air,  in  the  same  time.  Yet  all  this  great  mass  is  quite  in- 
visible and  has  no  share  in  producing  fogs  or  darkness,  for 
the  human  furnace  is  happily  so  constructed  as  to  consume 
its  own  smoke.  Each  full-grown  person  contributes  on  an 
average  more  than  four  ounces  of  solid  carbon  to  the  atmo- 
sphere in  twelve  hours. 

But  the  gas  is  also  generated  by  that  slow  burning  of 
animal  and  vegetable  substances  which  we  call  decay,  and 
it  is  poured  forth  in  very  large  quantities  by  volcanoes  and 
from  cracks  in  the  earth  in  volcanic  districts.  There  are 
more  than  a  thousand  carbonic  acid  springs  in  the  Eifel  and 
Lake  of  Laach  district  alone. 

The  various  processes  by  which  carbonic  acid  is  pro- 
duced go  on  chiefly  in  the  northern  hemisphere,  since  that 


1 68  THE  WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

contains  the  larger  proportion  of  land  ;  and  as  the  Old  World 
is  more  densely  populated  than  the  New,  more  carbonic  acid 
must  be  produced  in  the  East  than  in  the  West,  in  the  North 
than  in  the  South. 

Yet  the  air  all  over  the  world,  in  the  plains  and  on  the 
mountains,  is  very  nearly  alike,  for  gases  possess  the  peculiar 
property  of  intermingling  or  "  diffusing  "  themselves  equally 
through  one  another  without  any  reference  to  their  com- 
parative weights.  In  this  they  are  very  different  from 
liquids,  such,  for  instance,  as  oil  and  water ;  for  the  oil  will 
always  rise  to  the  top  even  if  put  in  at  the  bottom  of  a 
bottle.  But  if  you  put  in  first  carbonic  acid,  which  is  the 
heaviest  gas,  then  oxygen,  and  finally  hydrogen,  which  is  the 
lightest  of  all,  in  a  little  while,  without  any  shaking,  they 
will  have  thoroughly  mixed  with  one  another.* 

Carbonic  acid  is  forty-four  times  as  heavy  as  hydro- 
gen, and  1*529  heavier  than  air,  so  that  but  for  this  law 
of  "  diffusion "  it  would  rest  upon  the  earth ;  and  if  all 
the  carbonic  acid  breathed  out  by  four  million  Londoners 
were  thus  to  settle  down,  they  would  soon  be  completely 
enveloped  in  it  and  suffocated.  As  it  is,  however,  except  in 
particular  localities,  the  amount  of  carbonic  acid  present  in 
the  atmosphere  is  nearly  everywhere  the  same,  and  though 
it  forms  but  a  small  proportion  of  the  whole,  its  entire  weight 
amounts  to  more  than  three  billion  tons. 

Though  constantly  receiving  additions,  the  quantity  does 
not  increase,  thanks  to  the  innumerable  scavengers  always  at 
work  removing  it.  Each  blade  of  grass  in  the  meadow, 
every  leaf  in  the  field,  wood,  or  forest  is  busy  during  every 

*  Hydrogen  is  14^  times  lighter  than  air. 


How  PLANTS  FEED.  169 

moment  of  sunshine  in  drinking  in  this,  to  us,  poisonous 
gas,  and  they  do  this  so  rapidly  that  there  is  actually  rather 
less  of  the  gas  close  to  the  earth's  surface,  where  it  is  gene- 
rated, than  there  is  higher  up. 

One  plant  of  colza-rape,  for  instance,  will  drink  more 
than  two  quarts  of  the  gas  in  the  course  of  one  day's  sun- 
shine. An  acre  of  beech-forest  takes  about  three  and  a  half 
tons  of  gas,  or  one  ton  of  solid  carbon,  every  year;  and  if 
the  whole  earth  were  covered  with  beech-trees,  the  supply  of 
gas  would  be  altogether  exhausted  in  about  eight  years, 
supposing  there  were  no  means  of  renewing  it. 

As,  however,  three-fourths  of  the  globe  are  covered  with 
water,  and  as  the  vegetation  of  the  fourth  quarter  is  less 
than  a  third  of  what  it  would  be  if  covered  with  forest-trees, 
the  present  supply  would  last  a  hundred  years. 

It  is  the  leaves,  not  the  roots  of  plants  which  take  up 
carbonic  acid  ;  for  though  the  soil  contains  much,  plants 
can  be  grown  and  brought  to  perfection  in  water  which  is 
quite  free  from  it,  provided,  of  course,  the  other  food  they 
need  be  supplied  to  them;  and  they  will  be  found  to 
contain  quite  as  much  carbon  as  those  grown  in  earth. 
They  must  therefore  take  it  from  the  air,  and  as  fast  as 
they  remove  it  from  their  own  immediate  neighbourhood, 
its  place  is  supplied  by  more,  in  obedience  to  that  law  of  dif- 
fusion already  mentioned ;  so  that  we  may  imagine  streams 
of  the  gas  to  be  constantly  flowing  towards  every  leaf  and 
blade. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  the  breath  and  fires  of 
England  necessarily  feed  only  the  English  crops  and  trees, 
for  then  what  would  happen  during  the  winter  months? 


170  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

when  we  have  comparatively  few  scavengers  to  purify  the 
air  for  us  ? 

When  it  is  winter  here,  however,  it  is  summer  in  the 
South,  and,  thanks  to  winds  and  currents,  as  well  as  to 
the  movement  of  the  gases  among  themselves,  our  breath 
may  go  to  feed  the  palms  and  sugar-canes  of  the  tropics, 
while  English  oaks  and  English  wheat  are  in  their  turn  fed 
by  the  breath  of  Africans  and  South  Americans. 

When  the  leaves  have  attracted  and  absorbed  the  gas, 
the  sunbeams  with  their  rapid  vibrations  tear  the  atoms  of 
carbon  and  oxygen  asunder  ;  the  carbon  is  kept  by  the 
chlorophyll  or  leaf-green,  to  which  the  leaves  owe  their 
colour,  and  nearly  the  whole  of  the  oxygen  is  given  back, 
to  be  breathed  over  again  and  to  purify  the  air  of  those 
organic  impurities,  which,  besides  carbonic  acid,  are  con- 
stantly being  poured  into  it  from  the  lungs  of  animals. 

Plants  breathe  by  means  of  their  leaves,  and  if.  stripped 
of  them  will  die  :  but  without  the  leaf-green  they  cannot 
separate  the  carbon,  and  to  make  leaf-green  they  need 
iron,  in  very  small  quantities,  it  is  true,  but  if  kept  quite 
without  it,  the  plant,  like  the  human  being,  grows  pale 
and  sickly,  it  cannot  digest  its  food,  and  finally  dies  of 
starvation.  But  the  leaf-green,  however  healthy,  cannot  do 
its  work  without  sunlight,  and  plants  kept  in  the  shade,  or 
even  in  rooms  lighted  only  from  one  side,  give  out  carbonic 
acid  instead  of  oxygen. 

At  all  hours  of  the  day  and  night  plants  give  off  car- 
bonic acid,  but  the  quantity  is  so  minute  that  in  the  sun- 
light it  almost  escapes  notice,  whereas  by  night,  or  in 
the  shade,  they  give  off  carbonic  acid  only.  Even  then, 


WATER-PLANTS  AS  SCAVENGERS.  171 

however,  the  quantity  is  so  small  that,  as  has  been  said, 
"  one  might  safely  pass  the  night  in  a  greenhouse  without 
any  danger  of  being  suffocated  by  the  geraniums."  Such 
plants  as  the  colza,  pea,  bean,  raspberry,  and  sunflower, 
exhale  during  a  whole  night  only  as  much  as  they  absorb 
during  one  quarter  of  an  hour  or  twenty  minutes  of  direct 
sunshine. 

Seaweeds,  as  well  as  land  plants,  perform  the  office 
of  scavengers,  not  only  by  absorbing  carbonic  acid,  but 
by  giving  out  oxygen ;  and  Dr.  Hooker,  remarking  upon 
the  universality  of  the  diatoms,  speaks  of  them  as  a  most 
important  feature  of  the  Polar  seas,  where  the  higher  forms 
of  vegetation  are  so  scarce  that  the  office  of  purifying  the 
waters  devolves  mainly  upon  them. 

Many  fresh-water  plants,  among  which  the  common 
duckweed  is  prominent,  are  powerful  purifiers,  whether 
their  leaves  float  below  or  upon  the  surface ;  and  those 
who  have  kept  aquariums  will,  no  doubt,  have  noticed 
the  little  globules  of  oxygen  which  cover  the  weeds  when 
the  sun  shines  upon  them.  By  the  oxygen  thus  evolved 
the  impurities  in  the  water  are  literally  burnt  up.* 

The  carbon  taken  up  by  plants  is  in  some  unknown 
manner  combined  by  them  with  oxygen  and  hydrogen  to 
make  cellulose,  the  colourless  material  of  which  all  young 
vegetable  fibres  are  composed.  It  is  to  be  seen  in  the 
skeleton  leaves,  sometimes  picked  up  in  winter,  with  all 

*  Mere  exposure  to  the  air  will  purify  water  to  a  great  extent.  Ozone, 
or  condensed  oxygen,  generated  by  electricity,  is  a  yet  more  powerful  con- 
sumer of  all  putrescible  matter  in  the  air.  The  air  of  impure  places  is 
universally  characterised  by  a  want  of  oxygen,  and  the  differences,  though 


172  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

the  fleshy  part  decayed  away,  and  only  the  bare  bones 
left;  it  is  seen  again  in  calico,  linen,  and  paper,  which, 
white  as  they  are,  have  only  to  be  held  near  enough  to  the 
fire  to  be  scorched,  and  the  carbon  is  revealed  at  once. 
Cotton-wool,  again,  is  almost  pure  cellulose. 

About  one-half  the  substance  of  all  wood-fibre  is  simply 
carbon ;  but  it  is  not  all  used  up  in  these  ways,  and 
the  immense  variety  of  vegetable  substances,  composed 
of  the  three  elements,  carbon,  hydrogen,  and  oxygen,  is 
amazing. 

First  there  are  the  vegetable-oils,  palm,  olive,  rape,  lin- 
seed, &c.  All  are  hydro-carbons,  as  these  compounds  are 
called,  and  the  acids  which  give  them  their  characteristic 
flavours  are  hydro-carbons  also. 

From  the  same  materials,  combined  in  different  pro- 
portions, the  sugar-cane,  beet-root,  maple,  and  mallow,  pro- 
duce their  cane-sugar,  the  vine  and  other  fruit  trees  their 
grape-sugar,  and  the  acacias  their  gum-arabic.  From  the 
same,  again,  the  lemon  produces  its  citric  acid,  the  vine  its 
tartaric,  the  sorrel  and  lichens  their  oxalic,  the  rhubarb 


minute,  are  exceedingly  important  to  health.     According  to  Dr.  Hartwig, 

the  percentage  of  oxygen  in  the  air  of  the 

Metropolitan  Railway  (Underground)  is       ..          20-70 

East  End  of  London 20-857 

Pit  of  a  theatre  ...         ...         ...         ...         ...         ...         ...  20*  74 

Hyde  Park          ...         21*  oo 

Coast  of  Scotland          20-999 

Suburb  of  Manchester,  wet  day         20*980 

Ditto  ditto          dry  day         20-947 

Sitting-room       ...  20-  89 

Mine        20-  14 


GRAINS,  OILS,  GUMS,  AND  SCENTS.  173 

its  malic,  and  the  nettle  the  formic  acid  which  makes  its 
sting  so  painful. 

All  the  vegetables  used  as  food  contain  from  forty  to 
fifty  per  cent,  of  carbon,  and  foremost  among  these  are  the 
cereals,  the  starch,  sugar,  gum,  and  oil  of  whose  grain  are 
all  hydro-carbons.  One  pound  of  flour  contains  on  an 
average  seven  ounces  of  carbon. 

The  various  pines  and  firs  combine  carbon  with 
hydrogen  only,  and  produce  turpentine;  the  lemon,  berga- 
mot,  pear,  lavender,  pepper,  camomile,  clove,  &c.,  do 
the  same,  and  even  in  the  same  proportions,  and  produce 
the  essential  oils  which  help  to  give  them  their  special 
scents  and  flavours;  while  the  laurel  of  China  and  Japan 
adds  an  atom  of  oxygen,  and  produces  the  white  crystal- 
line gum  known  as  camphor. 

Various  tropical  trees  combine  carbon  with  hydrogen, 
and  form  such  juices  as  indiarubber  and  guttapercha, 
which,  though  white  as  they  flow  from  the  stem,  turn  black 
and  solid  with  exposure  to  the  air ;  and  then  other  plants, 
again,  such  as  the  rose,  Tonquin  bean,  meadow-sweet,  and 
many  others,  convert  the  same  two  elements  into  the 
sweetest  perfumes  by  the  addition  of  oxygen. 

But  there  is  another  gas  of  which  the  vegetable  world 
relieves  us,  and  makes  good  use.  This  is  ammonia,  which, 
like  carbonic  acid,  is  produced  by  the  decay  of  animal  and 
vegetable  substances,  and  is  easily  known  by  its  strong, 
pungent  smell.  It  is  a  compound  of  hydrogen  and  nitrogen, 
and  is  always  present  in  the  air,  but  does  not  on  an  average 
amount  to  more  than  one  part  in  fifty  millions ;  and  though, 
as  it  streams  up  from  all  decomposing  organic  matter,  it  is 


174  THE  WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

naturally  more  abundant  in  the  air  of  towns  and  cities, 
the  supply  from  this  source  falls  far  short  of  the  demand. 
For  all  plants  require  nitrogen  (and  without  it  those  used 
for  food  would  lose  their  nutritive  qualities):  yet,  though 
there  is  an  unlimited  supply  of  it  in  the  air,  they  are  unable 
to  take  it  up  with  their  leaves,  except  in  the  compound 
forms  of  nitric  acid  (nitrogen,  hydrogen,  and  oxygen)  and 
ammonia  (nitrogen  and  hydrogen). 

From  two  to  twenty-one  pounds  to  the  acre  are  washed 
down  from  the  air  on  an  average  every  year ;  but  a  single 
acre  of  clover-hay  requires  about  108  pounds,  and  in 
twenty-eight  bushels  of  wheat  there  are  4$J  pounds  of 
nitrogen.  The  remaining  quantity  is,  therefore,  derived  from 
the  decay  of  animal  or  vegetable  matter  naturally  present  in 
or  added  to  the  soil.* 

Vegetables,  then,  derive  all  their  nourishment  from  the 
air  and  from  the  soil,  and  convert  gases  and  minerals  into 
food  for  the  animal  creation,  which  is  altogether  dependent 
upon  them  for  its  means  of  subsistence. 

But  there  is  one  group  of  vegetables  which  are  like  ani- 
mals in  this  respect,  that  they  must  have  animal  or  vegetable 
matter  to  feed  on.  These  are  the  fungi,  and  wherever  they 
are  seen  there  we  may  be  sure  is  some  decomposing  or- 
ganic matter. 

Fungi  do  not  contribute  to  the  purification  of  the  air 
by  taking  up  carbonic  acid,  for  they  resemble  animals  in 
their  way  of  breathing,  as  well  as  of  feeding  ;  but  they  are 
scavengers,  and  some  of  them,  such  as  the  mushroom,  are 
very  perfect  ones,  since  they  convert  refuse  into  wholesome 
*  Chapter  VII. 


FUNGI  AS  SCAVENGERS.  175 

food.  Those  which  grow  upon  decayed  wood  are,  however, 
very  unwholesome,  and  others  are  not  only  poisonous,  at 
least  to  man,  but  so  offensive  that  they  cannot  be  considered 
any  improvement  upon  the  refuse  to  which  they  have  given 
a  new  form.  Mr.  Cooke  mentions  one,  the  scent  of  which 
became  in  an  hour  or  two  worse  than  that  of  any  dissecting 
room,  and  was  perfectly  intolerable  until  wrapped  in  twelve 
folds  of  thick  brown  paper. 

Still,  what  is  disgusting  to  us  is  doubtless  savoury  to 
others,  for  many  of  the  beetle  tribe  are  entirely  dependent 
upon  the  fungi  for  food. 

Wherever  decaying  vegetable  matter  of  any  kind  is  met 
with,  there  fungi  are  sure  to  be  present,  hastening  on  the 
process  and  growing  so  rapidly  that  a  crop  of  toadstools  will 
spring  up  and  a  puff-ball  grow  prodigiously  in  a  single  night. 

They  are  not  even  particular  about  growing  in  the  light, 
and  are  found  in  mines  growing  on  the  wooden  pegs  driven 
into  the  walls  for  purposes  of  measurement,  and  at  one  time 
there  was  a  specimen  on  the  woodwork  of  the  tunnel  near 
Doncaster  which  measured  fifteen  feet  across. 

No  substance,  animal  or  vegetable,  comes  amiss  to  them, 
and  they  will  grow  on  and  consume  the  defunct  members  of 
their  own  race. 

In  New  Zealand  there  is  a  certain  caterpillar  which,  after 
swallowing  the  spores  of  a  fungus,  buries  itself  in  the  ground 
and  dies.  The  spores  take  root  in  it  and  the  fungus  grow- 
ing and  absorbing  the  entire  contents  of  the  skin,  takes  the 
exact  form  of  the  creature,  but  always  throws  out  a  joint  at 
the  back  of  the  head.  It  looks  exactly  like  a  caterpillar 
with  a  twig  growing  out  of  it,  and  is  as  hard  as  wood. 


176  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

The  spores  of  the  fungi,  which  answer  to  the  seeds  of 
other  plants,  are  microscopic,  even  the  largest  of  them, 
and  the  smallest  are  hardly  visible  when  magnified  360 
times.  Their  numbers  are  so  enormous  that  one  single 
plant  may  produce  multitudes  such  as  the  mind  cannot 
realise,  and  being  so  extremely  minute,  clouds  of  them  are 
constantly  suspended  in  the  air,  ready  to  settle  and  take  root 
on  any  suitable  soil,  such  as  jam,  paste,  cheese,  or  even  an 
old  boot  if  left  in  a  damp  place. 

As  long  as  this  blue-green  "mould  "  grows  on  the  surface 
of  a  mass  of  paste,  it  can  obtain  from  the  air  the  necessary 
oxygen ;  but  if  buried  in  it  it  does  not  die,  for  then  it  de- 
composes the  starch  of  the  flour,  takes  its  oxygen,  and  gives 
off  bubbles  of  carbonic  acid.  The  "bubbling"  which 
we  call  fermentation,  is,  according  to  Professor  Tyndall, 
just  "  life  without  air." 

The  yeast-plant,  another  of  these  ferment-producing 
fungi,  and  the  only  one  which  can  be  said  to  be  "cultivated," 
produces  hardly  any  fermentation  if  allowed  to  grow  on  the 
surface,  where  it  gets  oxygen  from  the  air,  but  if  buried  in 
the  wort,  it  has  to  decompose  the  sugar  in  order  to  obtain 
it,  and  fermentation  proceeds  so  rapidly  that  streams  of 
carbonic  acid  flow  over  the  sides  of  the  vat.  A  drop  of 
yeast,  the  size  of  a  pin's  head,  increases  enough  to  ferment  a 
pint  of  liquid,  alcohol,  as  well  as  the  carbonic  acid,  and  a 
small  quantity  of  glycerine,  being  formed  in  the  process. 

Yeast  mixed  with  dough  has  a  similar  effect.  Part  of 
the  starch  is  transformed  first  into  sugar,  then  into  carbonic 
gas  and  water,  and  the  gas  in  its  efforts  to  escape  makes  the 
minute  bubbles  which  render  the  bread  light  and  spongy. 


FERMENTATION  AND  PUTREFACTION.  177 

In  making  aerated  bread,  carbonated  water  is  used  instead 
of  yeast,  with  the  same  effect,  and  with  the  advantage  that 
there  is  no  loss  of  starch,  and  no  products  of  decomposition 
are  left  in  the  bread.* 

There  are  many  other  vegetable-ferments,  most  of  which 
are,  however,  unpleasant;  some  produce  "  maladies  "  in  beer, 
some  acidity,  some  putrefaction,  according  to  their  various 
ways  of  feeding;  but  though  each  has  a  flavour  peculiar  to 
itself,  the  character  of  all  is  essentially  the  same.  When  we 
like  their  effect,  we  call  it  "fermentation,"  when  we  do  not 
like  it,  we  call  it  "putrefaction." 

The  name  of  bacteria  (Fig.  8)  is  given  to  a  large  variety 
of  these  organisms,  which,  though  much  lower  down  in  the 
scale  of  life  than  the  mildew  on  decayed  wood,  are  yet  nearly 
allied  to  the  fungi.  They  are  the  agents  of  all  putrefaction, 
and  though  no  microscope  is  powerful  enough  to  detect  their 
germs,  they  abound  in  all  the  moist  places  of  the  earth,  and 
being  so  inconceivably  minute  that  a  grain  of  pollen  is 
gigantic  in  comparison,  are  not  only  easily  lifted  into  the  air 
by  the  wind,  on  a  dry  day,  but  are  even  drawn  up  with  the 
water  as  it  evaporates. 

It  is  evident  that  all  putrefaction  is  caused  by  them ;  for 
milk,  meat,  &c.,  which  remain  perfectly  sweet  for  an  indefi- 

*  The  use  of  the  word  ' '  leaven  "  to  denote  a  good  influence  seems  strangely 
inappropriate  in  the  face  of  these  facts  and  the  circumstance  that  "  leaven 
in  the  inspired  writings  is  always  taken  as  the  type  of  naughtiness  and  sin  " 
The  most  prominent  idea  connected  with  leaven  is  that  of  corruption — but 
this  idea  was  not  peculiar  to  the  Jews.  The  priest  of  Jupiter  was  forbidden 
to  touch  flour  mixed  with  leaven,  and  the  Romans  sometimes  used  the  word 
' '  fermentation  "  for  corruption.  ' '  The  radical  force  of  the  word  matzzoth — 
unleavened— is  sweetness  or  purity. ;' — Smiths  Dictionary. 


178  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

nite  time  if  the  air  be  excluded  or  filtered  through  cotton 
wool,  will  be  found  swarming  with  bacteria  in  a  few  days, 
if  exposed  to  ordinary  air. 

There  are  billions  of  them  in  the  air  of  most  London 
rooms  and  on  all  exposed  surfaces,  even  on  the  money  which 
passes  from  hand  to  hand. 

When  developed  they  are  for  the  most  part  colourless 
and  transparent,  are  constantly  dividing  and  sub-dividing, 
and  exist  either  singly  or  joined  together  in  chains.  Though 
in  size  they  vary  from  the  35oth  to  the  i,oooth  part  of  a 
millimetre  ](one  mtllimHrt  is  less  than  ¥Vtn  °f  an  inch)  they 
are  exceedingly  tenacious  of  life,  like  other  of  the  lower 
organisms,  and  in  the  germ  state  can  bear  great  extremes 
of  temperature  without  being  killed. 

They  may  be  boiled  and  they  may  be  frozen,  and  though 
unable  to  germinate  under  these  conditions,  the  life  in  them 
will  not  be  extinguished,  but,  after  lying  dormant,  perhaps 
for  months,  they  will  become  active  as  soon  as  a  favourable 
opportunity  offers.  Oil  of  hops  and  carbolic  acid,  however, 
they  cannot  withstand. 

Many  of  the  diseases  which  attack  human  beings  and 
animals— splenic,  typhoid,  scarlet  fevers,  &c., — have  now 
been  clearly  traced  to  the  agency  of  bacteria,  and  it  seems 
probable  that  whooping-cough,*  measles,  chicken-pox,  and 
other  infectious  disorders,  are  also  the  result  of  their  attacks. 
They  increase  with  extraordinary  rapidity,  one  germ  being 
capable  of  producing,  in  twenty-four  hours,  16,000,000 
bacteria,  which,  when  fully  developed,  can  only  just  be  seen 

*The  fumes  from  carbolic  acid,  sprinkled  on  a  heated  shovel,  are  found 
to  cure  whooping-cough  very  quickly. 


DISEASE-GERMS.  179 

by  the  aid  of  the  most  powerful  microscope  and  with  all 
the  appliances  of  artificial  light. * 

It  is  no  wonder,  says  Dr.  Fiirst,  that  infection  should 
spread,  when  we  realise  that  the  air  of  a  sick-room  is  loaded 
with  germs  so  minute  that  hundreds  may  adhere  to  the 
smallest  particle  of  skin,  that  they  may  settle  in  the  hair,  on 
clothes  and  books,  may  be  carried  away  in  numbers  by  the 
flies  and  deposited  on  food  or  anything  else  upon  which  they 
next  alight,  and,  unless  expelled  by  carbolic  acid,  may  remain 
for  months  in  carpets,  bedding,  &c.  Even  a  bright  silver 
spoon  which  has  been  used  by  a  sick  person  will  probably 
have  germs  adhering  to  it  until  properly  disinfected. 

People  are  more  alive  to  the  dangers  of  infection  than 
they  were,  and  Dr.  Fiirst  mentions,  as  an  instance  of  official 
caution,  that  a  telegram  sent  from  Alexandria  during  the 
last  cholera  epidemic,  was  detained  twenty-four  hours  on  the 
way,  to  be  properly  fumigated  ! 

But  we  must  not  regard  even  the  bacteria  as  purely 
useless  or  mischievous.  "  They  are,"  says  Dr.  Tyndall, 
"  noxious,  like  many  other  things,  only  when  out  of  their 
proper  place.  In  their  place  they  exercise  valuable  and 
useful  functions  as  the  burners  and  consumers  of  dead 
matter,  animal  and  vegetable.  They  are  not  all  alike,  and  it 
is  restricted  classes  only  that  are  dangerous  to  man.  There 
is  no  respite  to  our  contact  with  the  floating  matter  of  the 
air,  and  the  wonder  is,  not  that  we  should  occasionally  suffer 
from  its  presence,  but  that  so  small  a  portion,  and  that 
diffused  over  wide  areas,  should  be  deadly  to  man." 

*  Thirty  thousand  million  cholera -bacteria,  or  comma-bacilli,  as  they 
are  called  from  their  shape,  occupy  the  space  of  a  pin's  head. 


i  So 


CHAPTER  XII. 

VEGETABLE       REFUSE. 

Petrified  Wood — Rapid  Decay  of  Vegetable  Matter  in  the  Tropics — Forma- 
tion of  Peat — Dismal  Swamp — How  Coal  was  Formed  :  Jungles, 
Luxuriant  Vegetation,  Drift-wood— The  Club  Moss,  its  Sacs  and 
Spores— "  White  Coal,"  Brown  Coal— The  Pitch  Lake;  Bituminous 
Shales,  Rock-oil — Diamonds,  "  Black-lead,"  Amber,  Iron  Pyrites. 

VARIOUS  are  the  fates  of  the  vegetable  scavengers, 
when,  their  time  of  active  service  in  that  capacity 
being  over,  they  themselves  fall  under  the  head  of  "  refuse," 
and  pass  into  the  lumber  room  to  be  remodelled. 

Both  at  the  Cape  and  in  Australia,  bushes  near  the  shore 
are  often  killed  by  the  calcareous  sand  which  buries  them. 
As  they  decay,  some  of  their  carbon  is  converted  into 
carbonic  acid,  which  dissolves  the  lime  immediately  around 
them,  and  as  evaporation  proceeds,  this  is  re-deposited  and 
forms  a  solid  crust  round  the  bark.  When  the  decay  is 
complete,  and  all  the  wood  converted  into  gases  and  ash, 
only  a  pipe  of  limestone  remains,  surrounded  by  loose  sand  ; 
and  often  these  pipes  are  filled  with  hard  calcareous  matter, 
which  makes  them  so  solid  that  when  the  sand  shifts  and 
they  are  left  exposed  they  look,  especially  when  branched, 
like  the  white,  stony  skeletons  of  the  shrubs  they  represent. 

Sometimes  vegetable  substances  are  petrified,  that  is,  as 
they  decay  and  the  various  atoms  of  which  they  are  com- 
posed are  set  free  and  returned  to  the  air,  the  place  of  each 


DECAY  OF  VEGETABLE  MATTER.  181 

one  is  taken  by  an  atom  of  something  else,  and  if  the 
process  is  allowed  to  go  on,  the  whole  may  be  converted 
into,  or  rather  replaced  by,  a  mineral  or  metal,  which  forms 
a  model  so  exact  that  all  the  minute  fibres  and  cells  and 
even  the  very  texture  of  the  original  substance  are  clearly 
distinguishable,  though  none  of  it  remains. 

Pieces  of  petrified  wood,  in  which  the  grain  is  distinctly 
visible,  are  found  in  large  quantities  in  the  Suffolk  Crag,  but 
petrifaction  or  mineralisation  is  not  the  common  fate  of  dead 
vegetable  matter.  When  left  freely  exposed  to  the  air,  it  is 
slowly  oxidised  or  burnt  up,  the  hydrocarbons,  cellulose, 
and  starch  of  which,  whatever  its  nature,  it  chiefly  consists, 
being  converted  into  carbonic  acid  and  water. 

The  light-coloured  fibres  of  the  stems  and  leaves  are 
gradually  converted  into  a  brown  or  black  powdery 
substance,  whose  weight  and  bulk  continually  diminish  as 
more  and  more  carbonic  acid  and  water  are  produced ;  and, 
with  a  suitable  temperature  and  full  supply  of  air,  the 
process  goes  on  without  interruption,  though  more  and  more 
slowly,  until  nearly  all  the  carbon  and  hydrogen  have 
returned  to  the  air  whence  they  came.  The  nitrogen,  too, 
has  been  set  free  and  gone  back,  partly  as  nitrogen,  partly 
in  combination  with  hydrogen  as  ammonia. 

In  the  island  of  Trinidad,  where  the  heat  is  perpetual 
and  rainfall  large,  all  vegetable  fibre  decays  so  rapidly  that, 
as  Mr.  Kingsley  has  said,  there  is  hardly  a  dead  stick  or 
leaf  to  be  seen  even  in  the  primaeval  forest.  An  English 
wood,  if  left  to  itself,  would  be  cumbered  with  fallen  trees, 
and  in  North  and  South  America  there  are  forests,  in  the 
temperate  zones,  which  are  piled  ten  or  fifteen  feet  high 


1 82  THE  WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

with  dead  or  dying  trunks,  in  every  stage  of  decompo- 
sition. 

But  Trinidad  is  little  more  than  10°  from  the  equator, 
and  in  that  fierce  heat  fallen  timber  melts  away  in  a  few 
months,  or  even  days,  and  its  gases,  being  rapidly  absorbed 
by  the  luxuriant  vegetation  around,  enter  at  once  upon  a  fresh 
career. 

In  temperate  regions,  on  the  other  hand,  the  fallen  leaves 
accumulate  year  after  year,  and  so  quickly  that,  although 
the  first  stage  is  rapidly  passed  through,  and  leaves,  twigs, 
and  sticks,  are  soon  partially  decayed,  a  fresh  fall  speedily 
follows,  and  as  this  to  a  certain  extent  excludes  the  air,  the 
process  is  checked.  It  does  not  cease,  but  it  proceeds  more 
slowly ;  and  whereas  in  Trinidad  the  soil,  wherever  visible, 
is  just  a  yellow  loam,  undarkened  by  leaf-mould,  in  an 
English  wood  there  is  often  a  foot  or  two  of  elastic  brown, 
peaty  soil,  and  in  the  Himalayan  forests  this  leaf-  and 
timber-mould  often  accumulates  to  the  depth  of  fifteen  or 
twenty  feet. 

In  the  Falkland  Isles,  where  the  climate  is  damp  and 
cool,  almost  every  kind  of  plant,  even  coarse  grass,  is  con- 
verted into  peat,  which  is  sometimes  twelve  feet  thick,  and 
so  compact  that  it  will  hardly  burn. 

It  is  in  the  cypress  swamps  of  America,  however,  that 
the  formation  of  peat  proceeds  on  the  largest  scale. 
The  Great  Dismal  Swamp  of  Virginia,  which  extends  over 
1,000  square  miles,  is  covered  with  many  kinds  of  shrubs  and 
trees — such  as  the  white  cedar  or  "  cypress" —  which  like  a 
watery  situation,  as  well  as  with  water-plants  without  number, 
and  a  multitude  of  ferns,  reeds,  £c.,  of  all  sizes  up  to 


FORMATION  OF  COAL.  .183 

eighteen  feet,  while  the  surface  of  the  huge  quagmire  is  in 
many  places  covered  by  a  layer  of  moss  four  or  five  inches 
thick.  The  black,  spongy  soil  beneath  is  made  by  the  decay 
of  countless  generations  of  these  various  forms  of  vegetable 
life,  but  it  has  advanced  beyond  what  is  strictly  speaking  the 
peat  stage,  for  almost  all  trace  of  fibre  has  disappeared  and 
the  whole  has  been  converted  into  mud,  which  again  is 
dissolved  and  gives  its  colour  to  the  clear,  brown-tinted 
water  of  the  pools. 

The  whole  delta  of  the  Mississippi  (14,000  square  miles) 
is  for  the  most  part  covered  by  a  series  of  similar  swamps  and 
similar  vegetation  growing  with  the  utmost  luxuriance,  both 
in  the  water  and  in  the  black  soil.  In  1812  a  large  extent 
of  "  cypress  swamp  "  in  the  Mississippi  valley  was  disturbed 
by  earthquake,  and  sank  below  the  level  of  the  water,  peat, 
ferns,  tree- stumps,  fallen  trunks,  and  standing  trunks  being 
covered  with  the  river-mud  or  alluvium,  which  is  brought 
down  in  such  abundance.  In  the  course  of  time  the  mud 
would  so  accumulate  as  to  rise  to  the  surface,  and  would 
speedily  be  covered  with  a  fresh  growth ;  another  mass  of 
peaty  mud  would  accumulate  on  the  top  of  the  old  one  with 
a  layer  of  hardened  mud  or  sand  between.  This  alluvium 
being,  however,  more  or  less  porous,  would  not  prevent 
the  buried  peat  from  parting  with  more  and  more  of  its 
gases ;  but  as  the  hydrogen,  oxygen,  and  nitrogen,  would 
pass  away  more  rapidly  than  the  carbon,  the  proportion 
of  this  latter  would  continually  increase,  until  there  might 
be  perhaps  as  much  as  eighty-two  per  cent,  of  carbon, 
with  five  and  a  half  of  hydrogen,  and  scarcely  twelve  and  a 
half  of  oxygen  and  nitrogen  together. 


184 


THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 


The  mineral  composition  of  the  mass  would,  in  fact,  be 
identical  with  that  of  coal ;  and  much  coal  has  evidently 
been  formed  in  the  manner  just  sketched,  for  we  can  see 
the  soil  in  which  the  ancient  trees  and  plants  grew,  as  well 
as  the  soil  heaped  on  their  heads  ;  and  the  trees  themselves 


Fig.  36. — DIAGRAM  OF  COAL-SEAM  AS  SEEN  IN  THE  FACE  OF  THE 
WORKING  OF  A  COAL-MINE. 

(a)  Under  clay  with  roots  passing  through  it ;  (b)  bed  of  coal  ;  (c)  "roof"  of  the 
coal,  composed  of  sand  and  shales,  with  upright  trunks  of  trees  passing  through  it. 

are  often  found  standing  upright  and  still  rooted  in  the  spot 
where  once  they  nourished  (Fig.  36). 

Coal  is  found  in  the  Manchester  coal-field  at  intervals 
through  a  thickness  of  6,800  feet,  60  feet  of  which  are 
workable  coal ;  but  the  seams  are  separated  by  so  many 
other  deposits  that  the  swamp,  if  swamp  it  was,  must  have 
undergone  many  such  subsidences  as  that  just  described. 

Coal-seams,  however,  appear  more  often  to  be  the 
remains  of  dense  jungles  growing  along  the  coast,  such, 


VEGETATION  OF  COAL  PERIOD.  185 

perhaps,  as  the  mangrove-swamps  of  the  present  day.  In 
the  tropics  great  quantities  of  trees  and  shrubs  grow  down 
not  only  to  the  very  edge  of  the  salt  water,  but  actually  in 
it.  Many  of  the  coal-bearing  strata  accordingly  contain 
marine  shells,  and  there  are  in  Russia  coal-beds  which 
alternate  with  limestone,  showing  that  they  must  have  been 
buried  in  the  sea. 

During  the  Coal  Period,  when  the  best  coal  and  all  our 
English  coal  was  formed,  the  climate  greatly  differed  from 
what  it  is  now,  and  tropical  plants  flourished  all  over  the 
world.  Vegetation  was  far  more  luxuriant  and  its  character 
was  very  different,  for  the  English  jungles  were  filled  chiefly 
with  ferns,  reeds,  horsetails,  club-mosses,  of  gigantic  size, 
but  with  no  solid  trunks ;  and,  indeed,  there  was  but  little 
wood,  properly  so  called,  in  these  old  forests. 

Another  change,  too,  has  taken  place  since  man  came 
upon  the  scene,  for  the  river-banks  are  now  covered  with 
grass,  corn,  &c.,  which  are  carefully  harvested,  whereas, 
when  the  greater  part  of  the  land  was  clothed  with  a  rank 
vegetation  which  was  left  to  grow  and  decay  as  it  would, 
every  little  brook  and  stream  would  be  loaded  with  dead 
leaves,  and  in  time  of  flood  would  tear  up  and  carry 
away  many  a  tree.  The  state  of  things  must,  indeed,  have 
been  somewhat  similar  to  that  now  existing  in  the  vast  un- 
broken forests  through  which  flow  the  mighty  Amazons  and 
its  tributaries. 

The  Rio  Negro  and  many  other  large  tributaries  are 
quite  brown  or  even  black,  like  bog- water,  from  the  dissolved 
vegetable  matter  which  they  contain,  while  the  little  brooks 
are  half  choked  with  dead  leaves,  rotten  branches,  &c.,  and 


1 86  THE  WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

when,  during  time  of  flood,  the  great  river  rises  forty  or  fifty 
feet,  the  largest  forest-trees  are  uprooted  and  hurried  away. 

Enormous  quantities  of  drift-wood  are  also  carried  into 
the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  some  of  the  trunks  having  travelled 
1,000  miles  down  the  Mississippi.  No  doubt  also  large 
matted  masses  of  plants,  tree-ferns,  &c,  were  carried  down 
by  the  rivers  or  washed  away  from  the  low  jungle  edge  of 
tropical  islands,  and  either  accumulated  in  estuaries  or  were 
thrown  up  on  the  swampy  shore  or  carried  farther  out  to 
sea.  But  wherever  they  accumulated — at  the  bottom  of  sea, 
lake,  or  swamp — there,  if  the  conditions  were  favourable,  they 
would  be  converted  into  coal. 

The  same  may  be  said  of  seaweeds ;  for  though  no  beds, 
except  some  small  ones  in  Iceland,  can  actually  be  proved 
to  be  formed  of  them,  yet  seaweeds,  as  well  as  shells,  are 
found  fossil  in  coal,  and  there  is  every  reason  to  believe 
that  they  have  contributed  to  its  formation,  for  we  know 
that  the  ocean  teemed  with  inhabitants  which  must  have 
been  fed  as  at  the  present  day. 

There  is  one  plant,  however,  which  has  contributed  so 
largely  to  the  making  of  English  coal  that  a  few  words 
must  be  devoted  to  it.  This  is  the  common  ground  pine,  or 
club-moss,  now  an  insignificant  little  plant  only  a  few 
inches,  or  at  most  two  or  three  feet,  high,  the  stems  of 
which  are  covered  with  little  scale-like  leaves  and  terminate 
in  spikes  resembling  fir-cones.  Between  the  leaves  of  the 
spikes  are  small  round  bags  filled  with  fine  dust,  like  the 
pollen  on  the  anthers  of  flowers,  which  consists  of  spores, 
and  is  so  resinous  and  inflammable  that  it  has  been  used 
in  the  preparation  of  fireworks.  A  pinch  of  this  lycopo- 


SPOKES  AND  SACS  OF  CLUB-MOSS.  187 

dium  powder  bums  in  a  candle  with  an  instant  flash,  and 
being  not  readily  affected  by  water  is  used  by  chemists  for 
coating  pills. 

In  the  Coal  Age  there  flourished  giant  relations  of  the 
little  club-moss,  forest  trees  in  fact,  some  of  them  a 
hundred  feet  high,  which  might  easily  have  been  mistaken 
for  pine  trees.  Their  cones,  or  rather  catkins,  did  not, 
however,  produce  seeds,  but  the  leaves  composing  them 
bore  on  their  surfaces  little  sacs,  or  cases,  scarcely  larger 
than  those  of  the  present  club-moss,  and,  like  them,  filled 
with  spores. 

A  thin  slice  of  coal  under  the  microscope  is  seen  to 
contain  multitudes  of  yellowish-brown  bodies,  about  the 
twentieth  part  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  which  are  flattened 
bags,  often  filled  with  irregularly  rounded  hollow  bodies, 
measuring  about  one-seven-hundredth  part  of  an  inch 
across.  These  are  the  spores  and  their  cases,  which  form 
by  far  the  larger  part  of  all  the  English  bituminous  coal 
examined  by  Professor  Huxley,  and  contribute  mainly  to 
its  inflammable  character. 

Clouds  of  yellow  dust  may  be  shaken  from  a  branch 
of  club-moss,  and  on  the  shores  of  some  of  the  Canadian 
lakes  there  are  often  great  heaps  of  yellow  pollen  which 
has  been  blown  from  the  pine-forests,  and  being  too 
light  to  sink,  has  been  thrown  up  on  the  muddy  shore 
by  the  waves.  If  this  should  ever  be  consolidated  it 
would  form,  with  the  mud,  a  sort  of  shale  very  similar  to 
an  ancient  deposit  on  the  shore  of  Lake  Huron,  which  is 
so  full  of  spores  and  cases  that  it  burns  readily  with  a 
bright  flame.  (Fig.  37.) 


i88 


THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 


There  are  innumerable  seed-like  bodies  in  the  curious 
"  white  coal,"  as  it  is  called,  though  really  it  is  brown,  now 
forming  in  Australia,  which  has  all  the  character  of  true  coal, 

though  of  inferior  quality, 
owing  to  the  clay  and  sand 
mixed  with  it. 

The  combustible  portion 
consists  entirely  of  spores, 
as  is  the  case  also  with  the 
"  Tasmanite  "  of  North  Tas- 
mania, which  forms  a  stra- 
tum several  feet  thick  and 
some  miles  in  extent,  and 

Fig.    37.—  THIN   SLICE  OF  SHALE   has   a  granular    appearance, 

owing  to   the   multitude   of 


showing    the    little   globular    spore    1,°ff|A     rrmnrl     Kr»rlip>c     i<-     r-nn 
cases  scattered  thresh  it.) 

tains. 

The  "black  shales"  of  Ohio,  again,  which  are  more 
ancient  than  the  Coal  Age,  contain  a  considerable  percent- 
age of  organic  matter,  made  up  entirely  of  spores  and 
cases.  The  coal  of  Borneo,  on  the  other  hand,  is  a  much 
younger  deposit  than  any  English  coal,  and  of  quite  a 
different  origin,  being  formed  from  a  mass  of  huge  timber, 
half  of  which  still  shows  the  grain  of  the  wood. 

Old  timber  left  in  a  mine  in  the  Hartz  which  is  some 
400  years  old  has  been  found  converted  into  brown  coal, 
or  lignite,  an  earthy-looking,  lustreless  substance,  of  which 
large  deposits  are  found  in  many  parts  of  the  world, 
especially  in  Hungary.  Brown  coal  is  far  more  ancient 
than  this  Hartz-mine  timber,  but  is  modern  compared  with 


COAL-GAS.  189 

true  coal,  and  contains  a  smaller  percentage  of  carbon,  but 
as  it  continues  to  give  off  gases,  there  seems  no  reason  why 
it  should  not  turn  into  true  coal  at  last. 

Even  then  it  will  not  cease  to  give  off  gases,  two  of 
which  are  often  fatal  to  the  miner,  one  being  the  deadly 
"choke-damp,"  or  carbonic  acid,  which  collects  in  old 
and  ill-ventilated  mines;  and  the  other,  the  "fire-damp,"  a 
compound  of  carbon  and  hydrogen,  which  ignites  with 
violent  explosion  on  the  introduction  of  a  light  and  the 
admission  of  a  certain  proportion  of  air. 

Coal  varies  extremely,  according  to  the  amount  of  gas 
it  contains,  and  when  at  last  little  is  left  but  carbon  and 
ash,  it  is  called  anthracite,  which  is  so  hard  as  not  to  soil 
the  fingers,  and  burns  with  a  dull  red,  flameless,  and  smoke- 
less glow,  giving  out  great  heat 

In  the  Wallsend  Colliery  so  much  inflammable  gas 
escapes  from  the  coal,  that  on  the  insertion  of  a  tin  pipe  in 
a  hole  drilled  for  the  purpose,  and  surrounded  with  clay, 
the  gas  issuing  from  the  pipe  may  be  lighted  just  as  at 
an  ordinary  gas  jet. 

It  is  by  heating  coal  in  large  closed  retorts  that  the  gas 
we  burn  is  obtained,  and  the  same  thing  may  be  done  on  a 
small  scale  by  filling  the  bowl  of  a  tobacco  pipe  with  coal- 
dust,  covering  it  close  with  clay,  and  holding  it  in  the  fire. 
Enough  gas  will  be  driven  up  the  stem  of  the  pipe  to  burn 
when  a  light  is  applied. 

Nature  has  in  some  cases  used  probably  heat,  and 
certainly  pressure  to  drive  off  the  gas  from  large  masses  of 
coal,  for  in  the  Appalachian  coal-field,  which  covers  at  least 
63,000  square  miles,  according  to  Prof.  Bischof,  the  coal 


190  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

passes  into  anthracite  where  the  strata  have  been  most 
disturbed  by  earthquake;  and  one  remarkable  bed,  now 
fifty  feet  thick,  is  computed  to  have  been  probably  two  or 
three  hundred  feet  thick  before  it  was  thus  compressed. 

And  now  to  consider  some  of  the  other  metamorphoses 
undergone  by  dead  vegetable  matter. 

Landing  on  the  point  of  La  Brea,  in  the  island  of 
Trinidad,  we  see  that  the  beach  is  black  with  pitch,  and 
that  the  so-called  rocks,  or  reefs,  consist  also  of  pitch.  One 
of  the  "  rocks "  indeed  has  been  almost  dug  away  to 
make  asphalt  pavement  in  New  York  and  Paris.  The 
"  pebbles "  on  the  shore  are  of  the  same  substance,  and 
everywhere  there  is  pitch,  no  more  than  a  foot  or  two 
beneath  the  surface,  which  is  constantly  oozing  through  the 
brown  soil,  itself  half  pitch,  in  which  the  pineapples  for 
which  La  Brea  is  famous  grow  to  especial  perfection. 
A  pitch  road  leads  up  to  the  famous  Pitch  Lake,  a  mile 
and  a  half  in  circumference,  which  glares  and  glitters  in 
the  sunlight,  and  has  something  the  appearance  of  a  bed  of 
gigantic  black  mushrooms  of  all  shapes  and  sizes,  from  ten 
to  fifty  feet  across,  their  round  heads  pressed  close  to- 
gether, and  the  spaces  between  filled  with  water.  In  one 
part  of  the  lake  the  pitch  is  constantly  oozing  up  from  the 
depths  below,  and  is  quite  liquid  ;  and  the  ground  every- 
where in  the  vicinity  is  full  of  pitch  and  coal-like  matter  to 
the  depth  of  hundreds  of  feet.  Beneath  the  lake  there  is 
said  to  be  a  bed  of  coal,  and  it  is  this  coaly  matter,  as  it 
seems,  which  is  constantly  turning  into  pitch  and  oil,  which 
are  forced  up  through  every  crack  by  the  enormous  weight 
of  shale  and  sandstone  above. 


PITCH,  ASPHALT,  ROCK-OIL.  191 

The  pitch  is  everywhere  hardened  into  asphalt  from  the 
evaporation  of  the  oil,  except  in  the  centre,  and  its  highest 
temperature  does  not  exceed  35°  C.  (95°  Fahr.).  There  is 
no  evidence  of  any  volcanic  eruption  close  to  the  lake ;  but 
there  is  an  active  mud-volcano  twenty  miles  off,  and 
the  mainland  is  often  shaken  by  severe  earthquakes,  so 
that  in  all  likelihood  the  pitch  is  derived  from  beds  of 
vegetable  matter,  which  are  being  slowly  distilled  by  volcanic 
heat.  A  mile  or  two  off  there  are  beds  of  brown  coal,  one 
of  which,  if  continuous,  would  pass  beneath  the  lake  at  a 
great  depth ;  and  when  it  is  considered  that  for  ages  past 
the  Orinoco  has  been  rolling  down  vast  quantities  of 
timber  and  vegetable  matter,  it  seems  highly  probable  that 
these  are  the  materials  from  which  the  pitch  is  made.  It  is 
certainly  derived  from  decayed  vegetable  matter,  and  sticks 
which  drop  into  the  liquid  pitch  are  often  found  partially 
transformed  into  the  same  substance. 

Another  product  of  the  decomposition  of  vegetable 
matter  is  rock-oil  or  petroleum,  which  is  found  in  many  parts 
of  the  world.  Bituminous  shales — i.e.,  hardened  mud  im- 
pregnated with  vegetable  matter — are  also  made  to  yield  oil, 
and  thus,  thanks  to  the  way  in  which  we  have  learnt  to 
utilise  nature's  refuse,  estates  formerly  worth  but  a  few  hun- 
dred pounds  a  year,  now  bring  in  as  many  thousands. 

There  are  about  a  hundred  petroleum  wells  in  Burmah, 
and  there  is  one  in  Zante  which  has  been  flowing  for  2,000 
years  ;  but  petroleum  was  not  discovered  in  America  and 
Canada  until  1861,  in  which  year  it  was  mentioned  as  an 
important  fact  that  250  barrels  were  exported.  And  im- 
portant it  undoubtedly  was,  for  by  1882,  the  exports 


192  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

of  petroleum  from  New  York  and  Philadelphia  had  con- 
siderably exceeded  500,000,000  gallons  a  year. 

It  is  not  improbable,  however,  that  the  petroleum  of 
North  America  may  be  in  part  of  animal  origin.  American 
oil  has  been  exported  to  all  parts  of  the  world,  and 
until  recently  held  almost  exclusive  possession  of  the 
European  markets  ;  but,  now  that  the  still  vaster  quantities 
about  Baku,  on  the  Caspian,  and  throughout  the  whole 
region  north  of  the  Caucasus  are  being  explored  and 
systematically  worked,  the  American  oil  seems  likely  to 
be  in  a  measure  at  least  superseded. 

But  whether  we  burn  coal,  rock-oil,  gas,  or  any  of  the 
various  kinds  of  candles,  our  rooms  are  warmed  and  lighted 
by  the  heat  and  light  drawn  from  the  sun  by  trees,  ferns, 
mosses,  &c.,  ages  ago.  The  carbon  taken  from  the  air  is 
sent  back  in  the  form  of  carbonic  acid,  and  in  one  way  or 
another  all  that  was  drawn  from  the  air  is  sent  back  to  it  to 
feed  new  generations. 

There  are  a  few  other  forms  of  vegetable  refuse,  how- 
ever, which  we  must  not  quite  pass  over. 

At  one  time  it  was  believed  that  the  diamond,  the 
hardest  of  all  known  bodies,  was  simply  a  vegetable  gum,  for 
it  consists  of  pure  carbon  with  a  trace  of  ash,  and  its  value 
therefore  arises,  not  from  its  composition,  but  from  the  form 
in  which  it  crystallises.  Very  minute  but  real  diamonds 
have  been  artificially  obtained  from  a  gas  containing  carbon 
and  hydrogen,  the  carbon  being  induced  to  crystallise  by  a 
method  which  need  not  here  be  described  These  diamonds 
are  therefore  of  vegetable  origin,  but  we  are  entirely  ignorant 
as  to  the  way  in  which  diamonds  are  formed  in  nature. 


AMBER  AND  IRON  PYRITES, 


193 


Carbon  crystallises  in  yet  another  and  totally  different 
form,  namely,  in  black,  opaque,  six-sided  plates,  when  it  is 
called  graphite,  plumbago,  or  "black-lead."  This  may  very 
well  be  derived  from  the  decay  of  vegetable  matter  ;  and  jet 
is  considered  to  be  a  highly  bituminised  wood,  which,  from 


/- 


Fig.  38. — ANIMAL  REMAINS  IN  AMBKK. 

the  fact  that  it  is  often  found  surrounding  fossils,  &c.,  seems 
to  have  hardened  from  a  plastic  if  not  liquid  condition.  The 
rocks  in  which  it  is  found  are  often  strongly  impregnated 
with  petroleum. 

Amber  is  the  resin  (Fig.  38)  of  some  extinct  speciesof  pine, 
and  is  often  found  with  coal  or  fossil  wood.  Many  pines  and 
firs  at  the  present  day  have  resin  between  their  annual  rings  ; 
and  large  masses  of  gum  are  found  at  the  roots  of  the  New 
Zealand  Kauri  pine,  and  exported  to  the  amount  of  several 
thousand  tons  every  year  for  the  manufacture  of  varnish. 


194  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

Similar  lumps  are  found  at  the  foot  of  the  Brazilian  copal 
tree. 

It  may  not  at  first  sight  be  obvious  what  connection  iron 
pyrites  has  with  vegetable  refuse ;  but  being  a  compound 
of  iron  and  sulphur,  both  of  which  enter  into  the  composi- 
.  tion  of  plants,  it  may  clearly  be  derived  from  them. 

The  ash  of  beech-wood,  for  instance,  contains  enough 
sulphuric  acid  and  peroxide  of  iron  to  form  pyrites  to  the 
amount  of  ^siyyyth  of  the  weight  of  the  wood ;  and  twenty- 
three  times  as  much  as  this  might  be  made  if  during  its  de- 
composition it  should  come  in  contact  with  water  containing 
sulphuric  acid.  Many  seaweeds  contain  a  much  larger 
proportion  of  sulphuric  acid  than  this,  and  if,  instead  of 
escaping  into  the  air,  it  were  to  come  in  contact  with 
peroxide  of  iron,  pyrites  might  well  be  formed. 

The  sulphur  contained  in  the  seaweed  thrown  up  every 
year  near  Helsingors  is  enough  to  make  332,000  pounds 
of  pyrites. 

Probably,  therefore,  the  large  quantities  of  pyrites  found 
in  chalk  are  derived  from  seaweeds ;  and  this,  too,  is  likely 
to  be  the  origin  of  the  small  percentage  contained  both  in 
the  blue  limestone  of  the  Jura  (to  which  it  is  said  to  owe  its 
colour)  and  in  the  bluish  marl  constantly  deposited  on  the 
coast  of  St.  Malo. 


CHAPTER     XIII. 

ANIMAL  SCAVENGERS — TERMITES,  ETC. 

Termites  ;  Great  Strength  of  Nests — Rapidity  with  which  they  remove 
Dead  Trees — Without  the  Termites  there  would  be  no  Forests — 
Destruction  of  Furniture  ;  Houses  and  Deserted  Towns — The  Teredo 
removes  Wrecks  and  Drift-wood,  Ocean  otherwise  choked — Vegetable 
Matter  brought  down  by  the  Ambernoh  River — Food  of  Deep  Sea 
Animals — Boring  Mollusks— Wood-boring  Beetles  ;  the  Weevil  and 
"  Death-watch" — Caterpillars  and  Worms  as  Scavengers. 

NATURE  has  other  ways  of  disposing  of  her  vegetable 
refuse  besides  those  already  mentioned. 

In  tropical  regions,  especially  where  the  land  is  not 
fully  cultivated,  a  fallen  tree  has  but  little  chance  of  quietly 
mouldering  away.  Instead  of  this,  it  is  devoured,  and  that 
with  wonderful  rapidity,  by  the  various  species  of  Termites, 
called  "  Bugga-bugs  "  in  Africa,  "  Cupim  "  in  Brazil,  "  wood 
ants  "  and  "  white  ants  "  in  the  West  Indies. 

Ants  they  are  not,  however,  for  though,  closely  resem- 
bling them  in  many  of  their  ways,  they  differ  from  them 
in  the  shape  of  their  wings,  &c.,  and  their  larvae,  or  grubs, 
are  active  creatures,  with  six  legs  like  the  perfect  insect, 
whereas  the  ant-grubs  are  legless  and  worm-shaped. 

Termites  belong  to  the  same  order  of  insects  as  the 
dragon-fly,  that  is,  the  Neuroptera,  or  nerve-winged  order. 
In  every  nest  there  are  three  classes  of  insects — the 
labourers  (Fig.  39),  whose  mouths  are  adapted  for  gnawing  ; 


196  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

the  soldiers,  who  have  large  heads  wherewith  to  inflict 
deadly  wounds  on  an  enemy;  and  the  king  and  queen, 
who  spend  their  lives  in  retirement,  and  are  diligently 
waited  on  by  their  subjects.  The  queen  is  from  three 
to  six  inches  long,  and  lays  about  sixty  eggs  a  minute, 
which  are  at  once  carried  off  by  her  attendants  to  the 
nurseries,  there  to  be  carefully  watched  and  tended.  The 
nursery  walls,  by-the-bye,  are  slightly  covered 
with  "mould/'  which  under  the  microscope 
resolves  itself  into  minute  white  globules,  of 
the  size  of  a  small  pin's-head,  and  the  shape 
of  mushrooms ;  and  it  is  probable  these  tiny 
fungi  are  grown  purposely  as  food  for  the  grubs. 
The  nest  of  the  termite,  surnamed  bdlicosus 
("warlike,")  is  a  wonderful  construction,  shaped 
like  a  hay-cock  or  sugar-loaf,  and  as  it  is  from 
eight  to  twelve  feet  high,  when  several  are  built 
Fig.  39.— LA-  together  they  might  easily  be  mistaken  for 
BOURERTEK-  a  native  African  village.  If  our  buildings  bore 

MIT  E. 

the  same  proportion  to  our  size  as  these  nests 
do  to  the  size  of  the  termites,  which  are  only  about  a 
quarter  of  an  inch  long,*  we  should  be  living  in  houses 
more  than  half  a  mile  high,  or  nearly  five  times  the  height 
of  the  Great  Pyramid.  Yet  they  are  completed  in  three 
or  four  years,  and  in  the  second  and  third  year  are 
covered  with  a  growth  of  grass,  &c.,  which,  as  it  withers 
in  the  sun,  gives  them  the  appearance  of  haystacks. 
In  Africa  they  are  made  of  a  yellow  clay,  which  is 

*  The  labourers  are  a  quarter  of  an  inch,   the  soldiers  half  an  inch, 
long. 


NESTS  OF  THE  TERMITES.  197 

worked  until  perfectly  smooth,  and  as  it  hardens  becomes 
almost  as  solid  as  sandstone,  and  strong  enough  to  bear 
the  weight  of  a  man  or  horse,  and  even  a  loaded  cart. 

The  Cupim  nests  are  smaller,  but  the  walls  are  six 
inches  thick,  and  so  hard  as  to  be  cut  open  with  difficulty. 

In  Ceylon  the  nests  are  not  destroyed  even  by  the 
monsoon-rains,  which  no  mortar  or  cement  is  able  long 
to  withstand,  and  the  clay  is  so  extremely  fine  and  pure 
that  the  goldsmiths  there  use  it  in  preference  to  all  other 
substances  for  the  moulds  of  their  finer  castings.  For  the 
same  reason  it  is  used  for  making  idols. 

Other  termites  make  their  nests  of  black  clay,  and  in 
the  shape  of  cylinders,  which,  being  three-quarters  of  a  yard 
high,  and  having  conical  roofs  with  overhanging  eaves, 
look  like  gigantic  mushrooms.  Others,  again,  use  a  sort 
of  paste,  made  of  wood,  gum,  and  the  juices  of  trees  with 
which  they  build  nests  among  the  boughs  as  large  as 
bushel-baskets,  and  strong  enough  to  resist  the  fury  of 
a  tornado. 

But,  whatever  their  habitations,  all  the  termites  are 
alike  in  the  wonderful  rapidity  with  which  they  will 
remove  anything  perishable  which  comes  in  their  way. 
It  is  said  that  not  even  fire  and  tornado  equal  in  this 
respect  the  termite-hosts,  which  in  a  few  weeks  will  destroy 
and  carry  away  the  trunks  of  large  trees  without  leaving  a 
particle  behind.  In  this  way  they  clear  the  ground  for 
a  fresh  growth ;  and  in  the  tropics,  where  vegetation 
matures  rapidly,  and  the  Guinea  grass  reaches  a  height 
of  thirteen  feet  in  five  or  six  months,  it  is  highly  important 
that  all  plants  should  be  removed  as  soon  as  they  have 


198  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

reached  perfection,  and  begin,  as  they  do  at  once,  to 
decay. 

But  for  the  termites  there  would  not  be  a  forest  left 
in  the  world,  for  the  dead  would  choke  the  living;  then 
the  absence  of  foliage  would  so  alter  the  climate  that 
droughts  would  ensue,  and  the  land  would  be  turned  into 
a  desert ;  so  that,  as  Mr.  Smeathman  says,  mankind  would 
probably  suffer  less  from  the  loss  of  one  or  two  of  the 
larger  animals  than  it  would  from  the  extermination  of 
the  termites.  They  seldom  attack  a  healthy  tree,  and 
probably  when  they  appear  to  do  so  it  will  be  found  that 
disease  of  some  sort  has  really  begun  its  inroads ;  but  any 
stake  in  a  hedge  which  has  not  taken  root  they  at  once 
destroy.  If  the  bark  be  sound  they  enter  at  the  bottom, 
and  completely  hollow  it  out ;  otherwise  they  first  cover 
it  carefully  with  clay,  as,  though  blind,  they  will  not  work 
in  the  light.  It  must  be  confessed  that  they  do  not  dis- 
tinguish as  one  could  wish  between  wood  that  is  useful 
and  wood  that  is  useless  to  man  ;  dead  wood  is  never 
anything  but  dead  wood  to  them,  and  thus  they  have  been 
known  to  destroy  all  the  timber-work  of  a  spacious  apart- 
ment in  a  few  nights,  so  carefully  concealing  their  ravages, 
however,  that  their  presence  could  not  be  suspected. 

In  a  single  night  in  Japan  they  have  made  a  tunnel 
as  thick  as  a  man's  little  finger  through  the  floor,  up  one 
leg  of  a  table,  across  the  top,  and  down  another  leg. 

Some  large  species  begin  work  several  feet  below  the 
foundations  of  a  house,  and  tunnel  their  way  up  through 
the  floors,  and  into  the  furniture,  the  position  of  which 
they  seem  to  know  with  the  utmost  accuracy.  The  only 


EA.TEN  our  OF  HOUSE  AND  HOME.  199 

way  to  prevent  their  ravages  is  to  place  the  legs  of  every 
chair  and  table  in  pans  of  water,  a  precaution,  which,  of 
course,  is  out  of  the  question  with  door-posts,  &c.,  and  thus 
it  happens  that  all  the  timber  of  a  house  may  be  perforated 
in  every  direction  until  nothing  but  a  thin  crust,  no  thicker 
than  a  sheet  of  paper,  remains. 

In  some  cases  they  seem  to  know  when  a  post  has 
a  weight  to  support,  and  are  careful  to  fill  it  up  with 
clay;  but  where  the  woodwork  is  not  used  as  a  prop, 
they  see  no  need  for  such  precautions,  and  the  owner 
who  is  thus  literally  "  eaten  out  of  house  and  home  "  may 
be  first  made  aware  of  the  fact  by  finding  his  window-sills 
crumbling  away  beneath  his  touch. 

Neither  wine-casks  nor  scientific  instruments  are  safe  from 
them,  and  at  Tobago  they  once  caused  the  loss  of  almost 
a  pipe  of  Madeira  wine.  But  they  do  not  confine  their 
attentions  to  wood.  An  unfortunate  engineer  in  Brazil  who 
had  just  returned  from  an  expedition  with  a  collection  of 
plans,  &c.,  left  his  trunk  on  a  table  for  the  night  and  found 
next  morning  that  all  his  clothes  and  papers  had  been  de- 
stroyed,'not  a  square  inch  of  the  latter  being  left,  while  every 
atom  of  pencil,  lead  and  all,  had  entirely  disappeared. 
Boots  and  shoes  they  will  devour  in  a. single  night,  and  one 
wonders  how  the  dwellers  in  equinoctial  America  contrive  to 
keep  a  roof  over  their  heads  or  clothes  on  their  backs,  and 
it  certainly  is  no  marvel  to  learn  that  it  was  a  rare  thing  to 
find  among  the  natives  any  papers  more  than  fifty  or  sixty 
years  old  in  Humboldt's  day. 

Several  species  inhabit  the  warmer  parts  of  Europe,  and 
a  colony,  probably  imported  from  the  West  Indies,  have 


200  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

established  themselves  in  La  Rochelle,  where,  besides  doing 
other  damage,  they  have  eaten  up  the 
whole  of  the  town  archives,  with  the 
exception  of  the  topmost  sheet,  under 
cover  of  which  they  pursued  their  destruc- 
tive labours  without  attracting  attention. 

In  America,  where  it  is  no  uncommon 
thing  to  find  wood-built  towns  and  villages, 
once  populous,  suddenly,  for  one  reason 
or  another,  abandoned  and  left  to  decay, 
the  termites  will  come  and  take  possession 
and  completely  clear  the  ground,  doing 
their  work,  too,  so  thoroughly  that  not  a 
door-post  or  a  trace  of  one  will  be  left, 
unless  it  happens  to  have  been  of  teak  or 
iron-wood.  They  will  work,  moreover, 
with  such  amazing  rapidity,  that  in  two 
or  three  years  from  the  time  of  their  arrival, 
the  site  of  the  town  will  be  covered  with 
a  thick  growth  of  vegetation. 

In  hot  countries,  however,  Nature  has 
a  wonderful  number  of  other  labourers 
employed  in  the  work  of  removing  dead 
vegetable  matter,  though  the  termites  are 
certainly  the  most  expeditious  of  any. 

What  they  are  on  land,  that  the 
Teredo  (Fig.  40)  is  in  the  ocean,  which, 
Fig.  40.— THE  SHIP  but  for  the  labours  of  this  creature,  would 

WORM    ( Teredo 

navaiis.}  be  choked,  in  spite  of  its  vastness,  by  the 

Ir.r^e  quantities  of  timber,  to  say  nothing  of  wrecks,  which 


WRECKS  AND  DRIFTWOOD.  201 

it  is  constantly  receiving.  By  far  the  larger  part  of  this 
wood  floats  until  it  becomes  waterlogged  \  and  this  being 
the  case,  when  it  does  at  last  sink,  it  must  do  so  too  far 
from  shore  to  have  much  chance  of  being  covered  with 
mud  or  sand  and  converted  into  coal. 

Seventy  miles  from  the  mouth  of  the  Ambernoh  River  of 
New  Guinea,  the  Challenger  found  the  sea  so  blocked  with 
drift-wood  that  her  screw  had  to  be  constantly  stopped. 
Long  lines  of  it  were  passed,  consisting  partly  of  whole  trees, 
but  chiefly  of  broken  pieces  of  wood  with  the  stems  of  a 
large  kind  of  cane-grass,  various  fruits  and  other  fragments, 
and  the  seeds  of  inland  plants,  but  no  leaves,  for  these  drop 
first  near  the  shore.  A  wide  area  of  the  sea  in  this  region  is 
constantly  covered  with  drift-wood,  which  seems  to  have  a 
special  population  of  its  own.  Much  of  the  softer  vegetable 
matter  decays  and  dissolves  and  so  helps  to  feed  the  whole 
kingdom  of  Protozoa  as  well  as  more  highly  organised  forms 
of  animal  life.  But  the  wood  might  last  for  ages  under  water, 
if  there  were  no  means  of  getting  rid  of  it  except  by  the 
slow  process  of  decay ;  for  one  of  the  old  wooden  ships  of 
the  Northmen  has  been  lately  dug  up  from  the  place  where 
it  sank  and  was  buried  some  thousand  or  more  years  since, 
and  oak  is  still  in  existence  which  is  known  to  have  been 
driven  into  the  bed  of  the  Thames  in  the  time  of  Julius 
Caesar,  nearly  two  thousand  years  ago. 

But  neither  wrecks  nor  drift-wood  are  left  to  accumulate, 
thanks  mainly  to  the  curious  teredo  or  "  ship-worm,"  which 
is  really  a  bivalve  having  a  very  small  shell,  only  a  few  lines 
broad  in  fact,  while  its  greyish-white  worm-like  body  is  a  foot 
long  and  half  an  inch  thick.  This  creature  bores  deep 


202  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

tunnels  in  submerged  timber,  and  does  its  work  so  quickly 
that  a  piece  of  hard  sound  wood  is  completely  riddled  in 
five  or  six  weeks. 

Though  extremely  useful  in  its  right  place,  it  has  at 
times  done  much  mischief;  and  it  is  as  a  protection  against 
its  ravages  that  ships  are  sheathed  with  copper,  and  the 
timbers  of  piers  and  jetties,  &c.,  are  studded  with  iron  nails, 
the  rust  from  which  soon  spreads  over  the  whole  surface  and 
renders  it  unpalatable.  Dockyards  have  sometimes  suffered 
much  from  it ;  and  the  Dutch  have  been  greatly  alarmed  by 
its  attacks  on  the  wooden  piles  supporting  the  all-important 
dykes  which  alone  preserve  their  country  from  being  flooded 
by  the  North  Sea. 

The  pholas,  rock-boring  Venus,  &c.,  already  mentioned 
as  piercing  stone,  also  help  to  clear  away  dead  wood. 

But  to  return  to  the  land,  where  there  are  numerous 
other  removers  of  dead  vegetable  matter.  In  the  tropics  a 
large  proportion  of  insects  of  all  orders,  but  especially 
beetles,  are  more  or  less  dependent  upon  vegetable  matter, 
particularly  bark,  timber,  and  leaves  in  various  stages  of 
decay,  and  the  number  and  variety  of  insects  which  may  be 
collected  in  a  given  time  depends  upon  the  number  of 
trees  which  have  been  or  are  being  cut  down.  In  the 
Aru  Islands,  we  are  told  by  Mr.  A.  R.  Wallace,  no  sooner 
is  a  tree  felled  than  it  is  attacked  by  swarms  of  little  wood- 
borers,  hundreds  of  which  perish  from  their  over-eagerness, 
being  glued  into  their  holes  by  the  outflow  of  sap. 

Numerous  species  of  small  beetles  lay  their  eggs  in  dead 
wood,  and  the  larvae,  as  soon  as  hatched,  begin  making  tiny 
galleries  in  all  directions.  A  quantity  of  oak  timber  was 


WOOD- EAT  ING  BEETLES.  203 

thus  once  destroyed  in  the  royal  dockyard  of  Sweden,  and 
we  all  know  the  look  of  old  furniture  which  we  call  "  worm- 


gallery  made  by  some  beetle-grub. 

Some  years  since  a  whole  cargo  of  cork  was  destroyed 
by  minute  beetles  and  their  grubs,  which  also  damaged  the 
timbers  of  the  ship  in  which  it  was  conveyed.  Much  loss 
has  also  been  occasioned  by  beetles  which  have  chosen  the 
corks  of  wine-bottles  as  a  convenient  place  to  lay  their 
eggs  in. 

The  most  destructive  wood-eating  beetle  in  England  is 
the  weevil,  which  gnaws  a  hole  in  the  bark  and  then  drives 
a  tunnel  into  the  solid  wood,  where  it  lays  its  eggs  and 
frequently  dies,  thus  effectually  stopping  the  entrance  with 
its  own  body  against  all  enemies.  The  eggs  are  soon 
hatched  and  then  each  grub  burrows  a  tunnel  for  itself  from 
an  inch  and  a  half  to  two  inches  long,  which  it  widens  as  it 
grows.  A  number  of  these  insects  together  will  entirely  peel 
a  tree,  and  thus  cause,  or  probably  rather  hasten,  its  death, 
since  it  seems  very  doubtful  whether  they  ever  attack  a 
perfectly  healthy  tree. 

It  would  take  too  long  to  mention  separately  all  the 
various  beetles  which  feed  on  decaying  vegetable  matter, 
wood,  leaves,  bark,  seaweed,  and  fungi.  Fungi  are  fre- 
quented by  very  many  species,  which,  as  they  are  not  found 
elsewhere,  seem  to  be  entirely  dependent  upon  them  for 
food.  It  may,  however,  be  stated  that  the  ticking  sound, 
called  the  "  death-watch,"  which  is  often  heard  in  old  houses, 
is  the  call  of  a  small  beetle  always  found  in  dead  wood. 

In   cold  climates   the  caterpillars  of  the  wood-leopard 


204  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

(Fig.  41)  and  goat-moths  feed  on  decaying  timber,  and  as  the 
latter  spend  about  four  years  in  the  caterpillar  state,  appa- 
rently never  ceasing  to  eat,  they  bore  considerable  tunnels  not 
only  in  fallen  trees,  but  in  those  which,  but  for  them,  might 
long  remain  standing.  The  goat-moth  caterpillar  when  full 
grown  is  three  inches  or  more  long  and  as  thick  as  a  man's 
finger ;  and  since  as  many  as  sixty-seven  have  been  found 


Fig.  41. — THE  WOOD-LEOPARD  MOTH. 

in  the  mere  splitting  of  a  piece  of  trunk  two  feet  long,  it 
is  no  wonder  that  many  an  elm  and  willow  are  unable  to 
stand  against  the  wind  after  being  colonised  by  them. 

It  is  perhaps  when  we  consider  the  vast  amount  ot 
damage  which  wood-eating  insects  inflict  upon  us,  that  we 
best  realise  the  great  services  they  also  render,  for  in  a  fully 
cultivated  country  it  is  the  havoc  which  they  play  that 
chiefly  comes  under  our  notice. 

Certain  fly-grubs  also  feed  on  rotten  wood,  decaying 
roots,  &c.  ;  the  jet  ant  makes  its  nest  in  decaying  trees,  and 


WORMS  AS  SCAVENGERS.  205 

so  do  the  wood-wasps  which  abound    throughout    Europe 
and  North  America. 

The  titmouse  and  woodpecker  are  sometimes  accused 
of  injuring  trees,  but  it  seems  unjustly,  for  they  are  said 
never  to  bore  into  healthy  bark.  There  are  grubs  beneath, 
however  well  they  may  look,  and  it  is  for  these  they  tap  the 
wood.  At  the  same  time,  when  a  tree  is  diseased,  they 
help  on  the  mischief  by  making  a  hole  in  the  tainted  wood, 
where  they  build  their  nests  and  open  a  way  for  the  rain  to 
penetrate. 

Worms  may  be  said  to  be  very  perfect  scavengers  as  far  as 
their  powers  go,  since  they  not  only  remove  refuse,  but  turn 
it  to  good  account  as  manure,  and  that  without  rendering 
themselves  disagreeable,  which  is  more  than  can  be  said  for 
some  other  creatures.  They  are  omnivorous,  and  besides 
dragging  large  quantities  of  leaves  down  into  their  burrows, 
as  linings  as  well  as  food,  they  also  feed  on  decayed 
flowers,  even  their  own  dead  comrades,  and  in  fact  decaying 
matter  of  all  kinds.  They  add  largely  to  the  organic  matter 
of  the  soil,  and  therefore  to  its  fertility,  not  only  by  the 
enormous  quantity  of  leaves  they  carry  down,  but  by  burying 
bones,  shells,  leaves,  twigs,  and  refuse  of  all  kinds  beneath 
their  castings.  The  leaves  they  feed  upon  are  torn  into 
small  shreds,  partially  digested  and  mixed  with  earth,  and  it 
is  this  which  gives  vegetable  mould  its  dark  tint. 

Slugs  and  snails  hardly  deserve  any  notice  as  scavengers, 
since,  though  they  do  eat  fallen  leaves,  they  live  chiefly 
on  sound  ones,  as  the  gardener  knows  to  his  cost. 


206 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

SCAVENGERS — ANTS,  FLIES,    AND    BEETLES. 

Ants  employed  by  Naturalists,  Destruction  of  "Specimens,''  Black  Ants, 
Red  Ants,  Fire  Ants — Ants  bury  their  dead — "Horse  Ants,"  "Tra- 
velling Ants" — Extermination  of  Vermin,  difficulty  of  guarding  against 
Fire-ants,  Mushroom -growing  Ants— Scavengers  kept  by  Ants  and 
Spiders — Three  Flies  equal  to  a  Lion — Keen  Sense  of  Smell— Beetles 
feed  on  Animal  and  Vegetable  Matter— Burying  Beetles — Carrion 
Beetles  —  Skin-eaters  —'Skeleton-makers  —  Cock-tails  —  Scarabeeus  — 
Dumbledor  Moths. 

AMONG  the  most  valuable  natural  scavengers  of  Ceylon 
are  the  ants,  for  they  never  sleep,  work  night  and  day, 
and  remove  every  particle  of  decaying  or  putrid  matter  in  a 
marvellously  short  time. 

They  are  often  turned  to  account  by  the  naturalist,  who 
gives  them  his  shells  to  clean,  and  finds  that  in  a  few  days 
they  remove  every  vestige  of  the  dead  mollusk,  even  from 
the  innermost  whorls  and  recesses,  which  he  could  not 
himself  by  any  means  reach.  A  bird,  or  other  small  animal, 
if  buried  near  an  ants'  nest,  in  a  box  pierced  with  a  few 
holes,  will  speedily  be  converted  into  a  perfect  and  most 
delicately  whitened  skeleton  by  these  industrious  creatures. 

The  said  naturalist  may,  however,  have  reason  to  com- 
plain bitterly  of  his  little  servants  at  times,  for  they  are  not 
discriminating,  and  unless  he  be  on  his  guard  against  them, 
he  may  find  his  most  valuable  collections  of  insects  either 
totally  destroyed  or  cut  up  into  pieces  of  a  convenient  size 


A  NATURALISES  ENEMIES.  207 

for  removal.  Ants  have  a  special  affection  for  insect 
"  specimens,"  and  the  only  way  to  protect  these  is  to  keep 
the  legs  of  the  table  on  which  they  are  placed  in  pans  of 
water.  Even  this  does  not  always  answer,  as  a  thin  film  of 
dust  will  make  a  floating  bridge  strong  enough  to  bear  the 
weight  of  the  smaller  species.  Against  oil,  however,  they 
are  all  alike  powerless. 

Mr.  Wallace  mentions  that  in  New  Guinea,  a  small 
black  ant  took  possession  of  his  house,  built  nests  in  the 
roof,  made  covered  ways  down  the  posts  and  across  the 
floor,  and  also  occupied  the  boards  he  used  for  pinning  out 
his  butterflies,  filling  up  the  grooves  with  cells  and  storing 
them  with  small  spiders. 

The  red  ants  which  in  the  Moluccas  frequent  houses  are 
"  a  most  terrible  pest,"  for  "  they  form  colonies  underground 
and  work  their  way  up  through  the  floors,  devouring  every- 
thing eatable.  It  is  very  difficult  to  preserve  bird-skins  or 
other  specimens  of  natural  history  where  these  ants  abound, 
as  they  gnaw  away  the  skin  round  the  eyes  and  the  base  of 
the  bill  j  and  if  a  specimen  is  laid  down  for  even  half  an 
hour  in  an  unprotected  place  it  will  be  ruined." 

"I  remember  once,"  says  Mr.  Wallace,  "entering  a 
native  house  to  rest  and  eat  my  lunch  ;  and  having  a  large 
tin  collecting-box  full  of  rare  butterfles  and  other  insects,  I 
laid  it  down  on  the  bench  by  my  side.  On  leaving  the 
house,  I  noticed  some  ants  on  it,  and  on  opening  the  box 
found  only  a  mass  of  detached  wings  and  bodies,  the  latter 
in  process  of  being  devoured  by  fire-ants,"  as  some  of  these 
red  ants  are  called  from  the  extreme  sharpness  of  their 
sting. 


^oS  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

But  then  how  are  the  ants  to  know  when  a  dead  body  is 
wanted  and  when  not,  since  their  own  opinion  clearly  is  that 
the  dead  should  never  be  allowed  to  remain  among  the 
living  ? 

They  alone  of  all  animals,  so  far  as  is  known,  are  con- 
stantly in  the  habit  of  removing  and  burying  their  own  dead, 
and,  indeed,  have  their  regular  cemeteries  ;  but,  while  thus 
careful  of  their  friends,  they  suck  the  juices  of  strangers  and 
enemies  and  throw  the  dry  husks  together,  in  some  spot 
away  from  their  nest.  Their  slaves  they  likewise  bury,  but 
in  a  place  apart,  and  are  seldom  known  to  eat  the  dead 
bodies  of  either  slaves  or  comrades. 

Mrs.  Lewis  Hutton,  of  Sydney,  gives  a  most  curious 
account  of  the  funeral  customs  of  some  Australian  soldier 
ants.  Having  killed  several  ants  which  had  attacked  her 
child,  she  saw'  their  friends  come  and  carry  them  off  in 
procession,  each  body  being  followed  by  ants  which  she 
took  for  mourners.  These  mourners  were  then  apparently 
called  upon  to  give  their  help  in  filling  in  the  graves,  which 
some  did,  while  six  or  seven  who  refused  were  killed,  and 
buried  without  honour  in  a  single  grave. 

In  our  climate  ants  are  essentially  carnivorous.  A 
company  of  horse-  or  hill-ants  have  been  seen  dragging  away 
half  a  dead  snake  of  the  size  of  a  goose-quill,  and  no  doubt 
they  do  much  useful  work  which  escapes  notice;  but  it  is 
in  the  tropics,  where  they  are  omnivorous,  that  the  work 
they  accomplish  is  best  appreciated. 

The  "  travelling  ants  "  of  South  America  start  on  their 
periodical  journeys  just  before  the  rains  set  in,  and  not 
only  clear  every  bush  and  low  tree  in  their  path  of  all 


TRAVELLING  ANTS.  2 eg 

insect-life,  but  also  enter  houses.  Their  sudden  arrival 
is  often  announced  by  the  scuttling  across  the  floor  of  some 
alarmed  cockroach,  pursued  by  one  small  ant,  which  does 
not  look  like  a  formidable  enemy.  But  the  cockroach 
knows  better,  for  the  one  little  ant  is  but  the  forerunner  of 
an  enormous  army,  and  very  soon  three  or  four  others 
appear  and  join  in  the  pursuit,  and  the  fate  of  the  cockroach 
is  sealed. 

When  a  house  is  thus  invaded,  the  rightful  owners  can 
do  nothing  but  give  it  up  for  a  time  to  their  uninvited 
guests  ;  unwelcome  we  can  hardly  call  them,  because  in  hot 
countries  many  creatures,  which  pay  neither  rent  nor  taxes, 
are  in  the  habit  of  establishing  themselves  in  all  parts  of  the 
house,  and  now  at  the  first  notice  of  the  approach  of  the 
ants,  away  they  all  rush  as  fast  as  they  can  go. 

A  lady  who  has  lived  for  years  in  Trinidad,  says  that  the 
arrival  of  the  ants  is  hailed  with  delight,  for  they  investigate 
every  corner  and  crevice  in  the  house,  the  walls,  ceilings, 
and  floors  being  black  with  their  countless  legions  ;  but  when 
they  have  thoroughly  explored  the  premises,  which  takes 
but  an  hour  or  two,  they  leave  them  quite  cleared  of  all 
living  things  which  have  no  business  there.  Rats,  mice, 
snakes,  cockroaches,  spiders,  scorpions,  and  even  the  fleas, 
have  vanished  for  at  least  one  or  two  months,  and  the 
lawful  owners  can  live  in  peace. 

The  ants  themselves  decamp  when  their  work  is  done, 
or  should  they  linger  may  be  easily  dismissed,  it  is  said,  by 
a  little  cold  water.  The  driver  ants  of  Africa,  which  also 
enter  and  clear  houses,  are  reported  to  kill  even  the  great 
python  ;  and  the  ants  of  the  American  plains  are  employed, 


2to  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

according  to  Mr.  McCook,  as  vermin-killers  by  the  Indians, 
who  spread  their  furs  and  blankets  upon  or  near  an  ant-hill 
and  soon  find  them  perfectly  cleared  of  eggs,  larvae,  and 
insects.  Strictly  speaking,  however,  it  is  not  when  they 
prey  upon  the  living,  but  when  they  keep  to  their  usual 
diet  of  dead  insects,  that  these  American  ants  can  be  re- 
garded as  scavengers. 

The  small  red  fire-ant,  Mr.  Bates  says,  though  found  in 
most  open  places  along  the  banks  of  the  Amazons,  wherever 
the  soil  is  sandy,  seems  to  have  its  head-quarters  at  Aveyros, 
a  village  on  the  tributary  Tapajos,  which  is  completely 
undermined  by  its  galleries.  The  Tapajos  is  nearly  free 
from  the  insect-pests  of  other  parts,  a  fact  which  may  per- 
haps be  put  to  the  credit  of  the  fire-ant,  but  the  latter  seems 
to  be  as  great  a  plague  as  all  the  rest  together.  At  one  time 
Aveyros  was  actually  deserted  in  consequence  of  their 
attacks,  and  though  their  numbers  were  supposed  to  be 
diminished  at  the  time  of  Mr.  Bates's  visit,  the  houses  were 
still  overrun  with  them,  they  disputed  every  fragment  of 
food  with  the  inhabitants,  and  destroyed  clothing  for  the 
sake  of  the  starch.  Eatables  had  to  be  suspended  from  the 
rafters  in  baskets,  the  cords  being  well  soaked  in  a  kind  of 
balsam.  So  malignant  and  unprovoked  are  their  attacks 
that  the  cords  of  hammocks  must  be  smeared  with  the  same 
balsam  to  keep  them  off  at  night,  and  those  who  would  enjoy 
an  open-air  chat  with  their  neighbours  in  the  evening,  must 
rest  their  feet  on  stools  and  sit  on  chairs  the  legs  of  which 
have  likewise  been  well  smeared. 

At  Ega  on  the  Upper  Amazons,  Mr.  Bates  had  to  keep 
his  specimens  in  cages  suspended  from  the  rafters  by  cords 


MOUND-BUILDING  ANTS.  211 

well  anointed  with  a  bitter  vegetable  oil  to  preserve  them 
from  the  attacks  of  the  ants. 

A  curious  fact  has  been  observed  with  regard  to  the 
mound-building  ants,  whose  nests  contain  certain  chambers 
which  appear  to  be  lumber  rooms,  some  of  them  being  filled 
to  the  roof  with  husks,  hulls,  and  decayed  or  mouldy  seeds, 
and  then  sealed  up,  presumably  in  order  that  the  contents 
might  not  be  unpleasant  to  the  inmates.  Others  are  filled 
with  gravel,  which  Mr.  McCook  believes  to  be  what  remains 
over  after  the  roofing  of  the  mounds.  For  these  ants  in- 
variably cover  the  top  of  their  habitations,  which  are  some- 
times thirty  or  forty  yards  round  and  from  one  to  three  feet 
high ;  and  the  covering  consists  of  sand,  gravel,  small 
pebbles,  with  little  bits  of  limestone,  fossils,  coal,  gold-dust, 
fragments  of  valuable  minerals,  whatever,  in  fact,  they  may 
happen  to  bring  up  in  the  course  of  their  excavations.  Ants 
in  India  have  been  observed  to  ornament  their  nests  with 
garnets  from  the  sea-sand ;  and  their  relations  in  England 
carry  off  bits  of  amber-like  resin,  whether  for  food  or  decora- 
tion, we  cannot  say ;  but  there  seems  no  reason  whatever 
why  they  should  not  like  to  have  pretty  things  or  even 
curiosities  about  them,  since  they  are  so  extremely  human 
in  other  respects. 

Another  inhabitant  of  South  America,  the  bizcacha, 
which  is  like  a  large  rabbit,  collects  bones,  stones,  thistle- 
stalks,  and  hard  lumps  of  earth,  round  the  mouth  of  its  bur- 
row, and  has  been  known  to  add  a  gentleman's  watch  to  its 
treasures ;  while  the  satin  birds  of  Australia  erect  bower-like 
structures  of  twigs  and  branches,  which  they  adorn  with 
coloured  feathers,  bones,  and  shells.  These  curious  covered 


212  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

arcades  are  sometimes  several  feet  long,  and  seem  to  serve 
as  a  common  pleasure-ground  for  a  number  of  birds,  which 
amuse  themselves  by  running  in  and  out.*  The  mere  size 
of  the  ant  is  of  course  no  reason  at  all  against  its  taking 
pleasure  in  similar  "collections." 

Sir  John  Lubbock  is  at  all  events  of  opinion  that  they 
may  take  pleasure  in  keeping  pets,  for  as  many  as  forty 
different  species  of  minute  beetles  are  found  in  their  nests, 
some  of  which  are  so  thoroughly  domesticated  as  never  to 
be  met  with  elsewhere. 

The  ants  take  great  care  of  these  beetles,  and  are  as 
anxious  to  remove  them  as  their  own  young  to  a  place .  of 
safety  should  the  nest  be  invaded.  But,  as  beetles  are  the 
great  insect-scavengers,  it  seems  probable  that  some  at 
least  may  act  in  this  capacity  to  their  hosts,  who  keep  a 
blind  woodlouse  for  the  same  purpose  apparently.  The 
latter,  however,  they  treat  with  the  utmost  unconcern,  and 
leave  behind  to  shift  for  itself  when  they  migrate. 

According  to  Mr.  Belt,  the  Saiiba,  or  leaf-cutting  ants, 
like  the  termites,  are  in  the  habit  of  growing  "mushrooms," 
but  in  a  still  more  systematic  way,  since  they  supply  them 
with  the  proper  soil  or  manure,  in  the  shape  of  leaves,  the 
blossoms  of  certain  plants,  and  the  inside  white  rind  of 
oranges,  all  of  which  are  torn  into  minute  shreds.  Certain 
it  is  that  some  of  their  chambers  are  often  three  parts  filled 

*  The  jackass-penguin,  according  to  Mr.  Moseley,  collects  in  and  about 
its  nest  small  stones,  shells,  old  bits  of  wood,  nails,  rope-ends,  old  sails, 
boat-spars,  even  forgotten  bags  of  guano,  and  anything  else  which  may 
chance  to  be  left  in  its  neighbourhood,  but  this  seems  to  be  for  purposes  of 
drainage. 


SCAVENGERS  KEPT  BY  SPIDERS.  213 

with  a  speckled  brown  spongy-looking  mass,  which,  on  close 
examination,  is  seen  to  consist  of  tiny  bits  of  withered  leaves, 
overgrown  by  a  very  small  white  fungus  ;  and  should  the 
nest  be  disturbed,  the  ants  are  evidently  most  anxious  to 
carry  every  morsel  of  this  "  food  "  under  shelter,  and  when 
they  migrate  invariably  take  it  with  them.  It  is  also  certain 
that  they  do  not  eat  the  leaves  themselves,  so  one  can  only 
conclude  that  they  need  them  for  the  purposes  of  cultivation. 
The  refuse-particles,  when  exhausted  as  manure,  are  stowed 
away  in  deserted  chambers,  and  serve  as  food  for  the  grubs 
of  beetles. 

Rose-beetle  grubs  are  often  found  in  the  nest  of  the 
wood-ant  (Fig.  42),  probably  for  the  sake  of  the  chips  of 
wood,  fir-needles,  &c.,  which  they  need 
for  their  cocoons. 

Nor  are  ants  the  only  creatures 
which  keep  scavengers.  Some  of  the 
larger  spiders  allow  certain  small  species 
to  live  on  the  outskirts  of  their  large, 

strong  webs,  and  to. feed  on  such  minute 

,    .  .          Fig.     42.  —  WORKER 

insects  as  are  beneath  their  own  notice,          WOOD-ANT. 

and  would  otherwise  not  only  be  wasted, 
but  become  a  nuisance  by  choking  up  the  web.  Mr.  Darwin 
tells  us  that  the  booby  and  noddy  of  the  desolate  St.  Paul's 
Rocks,  where  nothing  in  the  shape  of  a  plant,  not  even  a 
lichen,  grows,  have  their  attendant  scavengers,  in  the  shape 
of  a  woodlouse,  a  feather-feeding  moth,  and  a  beetle. 

Among  the  most  important  scavengers  we  must  reckon 
the  flies,  since  there  are  very  few  which  do  not,  at  one  time 
or  other  of  their  existence,  feed  on  decaying  matter,  animal 


214  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

or  vegetable.  Flies  are  the  first  to  attack  any  dead  body 
which  may  be  left  exposed,  and,  by  perforating  it  in  all 
directions,  they  open  and  prepare  the  way  for  the  host  of 
beetles  which  follow  them. 

Linnaeus,  the  great  naturalist,  declared  that  three  flies 
were  equal  to  a  lion  as  regards  the  length  of  time  they 
would  take  to  demolish  the  carcase  of  a  horse ;  and  this 
will  not  seem  by  any  means  impossible  when  we  learn  that 
each  flesh-fly  produces  16,000  to  20,000  maggots,  which  are 
hatched  in  her  body,  and  are  therefore  ready  to  begin  feed- 
ing at  once,  which  they  do  so  voraciously  that  in  many 
species  they  increase  their  weight  two-hundredfold  in 
twenty-four  hours. 

The  larval  state  of  all  insects,  whether  butterflies,  moths, 
beetles,  flies,  &c.,  is  the  grand  feeding-time,  when,  indeed, 
the  grub,  maggot,  or  caterpillar,  does  nothing  but  eat,  and  as 
soon  as  it  is  "  full  fed  "  prepares  at  once  to  enter  on  the  next 
stage  of  its  existence. 

Flies  do  not  wait  for  decomposition  to  set  in  before 
coming  to  feed  and  deposit  their  eggs  or  young  ;  or  rather, 
perhaps,  since  decay  actually  begins  as  soon  as  life  ceases, 
we  should  say  that  their  senses  are  keener  than  ours  in 
detecting  it.  A  mouse  has  been  known  to  be  full  of  their 
maggots  two  or  three  hours  after  death  ;  and  every  butcher 
knows  to  his  cost  how  attractive  his  meat  is,  even  when 
freshly  killed.  Human  beings  endowed  with  the  ordinary 
sense  of  smell  are  able,  it  is  said,  to  detect  the  three  hundred 
millionth  part  of  a  grain  of  musk ;  but  insects  require  a  very 
much  smaller  degree  of  odour  to  guide  them  to  their  food. 
Thus  it  has  been  noticed  in  Ceylon  that,  in  a  few  moments, 


OF  SMELL.  215 

or  even  less,  from  its  death,  an  elephant  will  be  covered  with 
myriads  of  black  flies,  not  one  of  which  had  been  visible 
before. 

Not  only  can  no  odour  whatever  be  detected  by  human 
noses,  but  the  sudden  arrival  of  the  flies  is  often  the  first 
intimation  to  the  bystanders  that  the  animal  is  really  dead ; 
yet  some  extraordinarily  subtle  odour  there  must  be,  and  it 
must  have  travelled  through  the  air  with  a  speed  which  is 
equally  extraordinary. 

White  sugar  is  to  us  utterly  without  smell,  yet  Sir  J. 
Emerson  Tennent  mentions  that  the  smallest  particle, 
though  wrapped  in  paper  and  placed  in  the  centre  of  a 
table,  is  quite  enough  to  attract  the  small  black  ants,  a  line 
of  which  will  be  formed  in  a  few  minutes  to  effect  the  re- 
moval of  the  delicious  morsel. 

Flies  seem  to  be  guided  by  scent  and  scent  only ;  for, 
when  she  cannot  get  at  the  meat,  the  bluebottle,  or  blow-fly, 
will  lay  her  eggs  on  the  wire-gauze  meat-cover,  and  in  this 
case  one  would  say  she  must  be  deceived  by  the  smell,  for 
she  can  hardly  know  that,  though  it  is  beyond  her  own 
reach,  her  eggs  will  fall  through  and  her  children  thus  find 
their  necessary  food.  It  is,  at  all  events,  quite  certain 
that  gauze  is  no  sufficient  protection  against  her  and  her 
family. 

In  tropical  countries  where  the  extreme  heat  and  dryness 
of  the  air  combine  to  shrivel  up  any  dead  body  so  rapidly 
that  it  can  hardly  be  said  to  putrefy,  and  so  completely 
that  travellers  in  the  woodless  pampas  can  make  their  fire 
of  a  dead  horse,  carrion-beetles,  though  not  absent,  are  not 
numerous.  On  the  other  hand,  they  abound  in  damp  tern- 


216  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  Roozr. 

perate  climates,  where  the  slow  rate  at  which  decomposition 
proceeds  makes  their  services  especially  valuable. 

Many  feed  both  on  animal  and  vegetable  matter,  especi- 


Fig.  43. — BURYING  BEETLES. 

ally  on  fungi  in  a  state  of  decay,  and  their  numbers  are  so 
vast  that  we  can  mention  only  a  few  of  the  most  active. 
Foremost  among  them  are  the  Sexton,  or  burying  beetles, 
whose  scent  is  so  keen  that  they  come  from  great  distances 
to  find  their  food.  (Fig.  43.) 


BURYING  BEETLES  AT   WORK.  217 

In  the  vicinity  of  towns  they  feed  on  all  manner  of 
garbage,  hunting  in  couples  and  chiefly  at  night,  the  male 
insect  wheeling  round  and  round  in  the  air  like  an  eagle 
before  pouncing  on  his  prey.  After  a  careful  examination 
of  their  booty  (perhaps  a  dead  bird),  they  proceed  to  make 
a  hearty  meal,  and  then  explore  the  immediate  neighbour- 
hood for  a  spot  where  the  ground  is  soft  enough  in  which 
to  bury  the  remainder.  This  found,  they  drag  the  body 
with  much  labour  to  the  place,  and  the  male  insect  begins 
operations  by  digging  a  furrow  all  round  the  body  at  the 
distance  of  half  an  inch,  using  his  head  as  a  spade.  Another 
furrow  is  dug  within  the  outer  one,  and  so  on,  until  after 
several  hours'  most  laborious  work,  during  which  the  insect 
has  been  obliged  at  times  to  rest  from  sheer  fatigue,  he  at 
length  goes  underneath  the  body  and  pulls  it  by  its  feathers 
into  the  hole  scraped  beneath.  His  wife,  meanwhile,  has 
been  quietly  seated  among  the  bird's  feathers,  and  now 
allows  herself  to  be  buried  with  it.  Her  husband  treads 
down  the  body,  shovels  back  the  earth,  treads  it  well  in, 
scrutinises  it  carefully  to  make  sure  all  is  right,  then  makes  a 
hole  in  the  still  loose  earth  and,  burying  himself,  rejoins  his 
wife.  The  great  object  of  all  this  hard  labour  has  been  to 
secure  a  proper  place  for  her  in  which  to  lay  her  eggs, 
which  she  does  in  a  number  proportioned  to  the  size  of 
the  bird,  after  which  the  two  creep  out  and  fly  away. 
The  great  business  of  the  larvae,  as  we  have  said,  is  to 
eat,  and  the  parents  are  careful  to-  provide  them  with  food 
enough,  though  not  too  much,  to  last  them  until  they  are 
full  grown.  And  the  larvae  do  their  work  well,  wasting 
nothing,  but  consuming  even  the  skin  and  bones. 


218  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

Sometimes,  so  Miss  Stavely  tells  us,  the  Sexton  beetle 
makes  a  hole  nearly  a  foot  deep  to  receive  the  carrion,  and 
will  bury  creatures  many  times  larger  than  himself,  such  as 
birds,  frogs,  and  even  rabbits.  If  the  body  is  too  large  for 
one,  others  come  to  help  and  to  feast  with  him.  In  Ceylon, 
one  beetle  has  been  seen  to  bury  a  mole  forty  times  its  own 
weight,  without  assistance,  and  four  together  will  bury  a 
crow.  The  Phanseus,  a  beetle  one  inch  and  three-quarters 
long,  with  one  large  horn,  buries  dead  snakes  in  a  few 
hours. 

Mr.  West  wood  mentions  that  in  the  course  of  fifty 
days  he  has  known  four  beetles  to  bury  four  frogs,  three 
small  birds,  two  fishes,  one  mole,  two  grasshoppers,  the 
entrails  of  a  fish,  and  two  pieces  of  ox  liver.  It  is,  indeed, 
chiefly  owing  to  their  burying  habits  that  we  may  wander 
for  hours  in  the  woods  or  fields  without  seeing  such  a 
thing  as  a  dead  bird,  mouse,  rat,  &c. 

Some  of  the  burying  beetles  work  in  company,  others 
alone,  and  while  some,  as  we  have  seen,  dig  with  their 
broad-  flat  heads,  others  do  so  with  their  fore  legs.  Their 
scent  is  so  keen  that  they  can  detect  their  food  from  a 
wonderful  distance,  and  they  have  been  known  to  under- 
mine the  stick  to  which  a  dead  mole  was  fastened,  in  order 
to  bring  the  dainty  morsel  within  their  reach. 

Besides  the  Sextons,  there  are  in  England  alone  many 
hundred  species  of  beetles  which  feed  on  carrion  without 
burying  it,  and,  as  soon  as  the  flies  have  opened  the  way. 
they  arrive  in  hosts,  accompanied  by  wasps,  hornets,  and 
ants,  the  last  relics  of  the  feast  being  consumed  by  a 
tribe  of  small  beetles,  so  that  nothing  is  wasted. 


CARRION-FEEDING  BEETLES.  219 

Carrion  feeding  beetles,  like  other  larger  carrion-feeders, 
though  invaluable  in  the  service  they  render,  are  themselves 
decidedly  unpleasant,  owing  to  their  extremely  strong  and 
disgusting  scent.  The  hands  will  smell  for  hours,  and  the 
coat  for  days,  after  being  in  contact  with  them,  unless, 
indeed,  they  happen  to  have  been  fasting  for  some  time 
from  their  highly-seasoned  food,  when  they  are  quite  free 
from  smell. 

Many  of  the  carrion-feeders  prey  upon  the  living,  as 
well  as  the  dead,  and,  as  before  said,  eat  decayed  fungi  and 
other  vegetable  matter.  Some  lie  in  wait  on  the  banks  of 
rivers,  and  devour  the  dead  dogs,  cats,  &c.,  thrown  up  by 
the  water,  as  well  as  small  mollusks,  alive  or  dead.  They  will, 
in  fact,  clean  your  shells  and  skeletons  as  well  as  the  ants ; 
but,  with  all  their  usefulness,  grievous  are  the  complaints 
made  against  some  of  the  race,  especially  those  known  as- 
skin-eaters  (Dermestes). 

These  render  infinite  service,  as  we  are  assured,  but, 
at  the  same  time,  they  and  their  minute  grubs  will  entirely 
destroy  your  books,  eat  up  your  furs  and  your  natural- 
history  collections,  besides  invading  your  larder,  and  feasting 
upon  the  dried  meat,  bacon,  &c.  So  injurious  were  they 
some  years  ago  in  the  large  skin  warehouses  in  London 
that  a  reward  of  ^20,000  was  offered,  and  offered  in  vain, 
to  any  one  who  could  devise  effectual  means  of  preventing 
their  ravages.  They  are  commonly  found  in  the  bodies  of 
moles  stuck  up  in  the  fields  to  dry,  and  will  consume  not 
only  the  flesh  but  the  skeleton  ;  nothing,  in  fact,  comes 
amiss  to  them,  for  they  will  devour  horns,  hoofs,  and  leather, 
even  in  the  form  of  old  shoes.  (Fig.  44.) 


220 


THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 


Mr.  Buckland  says  that  he  has  never  found  a  dry  body 
of  an  animal  that  had  not  in  and  about  it  specimens  of 
\hzDermtsttstardarius,  or  bacon-beetle,  called  a  "hopper"* 
by  the  ham  and  bacon  merchants. 

"  They  are,"  he  writes,  "  capital  skeleton  makers,  and 
if  the  skins  of  the  creatures  in  the  gamekeeper's  museum 


Fig.  44. — SKIN-EATKKS. 

be  removed,  the  skeletons  will  be  found  underneath  in 
a  most  perfect  state  of  preservation,  and  quite  fit,  after  a 
little  washing,  for  the  cabinet.  The  late  Mr.  Baker,  of 
Bridgwater,  took  advantage  of  their  powers  by  setting 
them  to  work  to  make  skeletons  of  delicate  things,  such 
as  small  birds,  fishes,  frogs,  lizards,  &c.  Neat  workmen 
are  these  little  hoppers,  touching  nothing  but  the  flesh, 
and  they  clean  much  better  than  ants.  The  animal  to 

*  "  Hoppers  "  are  the  larvae,  or  grubs. 


COCK-TAIL  BEETLES. 


221 


be  made  into  a  skeleton  should  be  soaked  in  water,  to  get 
all  the  blood  out,  then  dried  and  placed  with  the  hoppers 
in  a  covered  box;  a  few  birds'  feathers  should  be  put  over 
them,  as  they  will  work  only  in  the  dark." 

Another  great  family  of  beetles  is  well  known  by  their 


Fig.  45. — THE  DKVIL'S  COACH-HORSE. 

peculiar  habit  of  turning  their  tails  over  their  backs,  after 
the  manner  of  scorpions,  which  has  earned  for  them  the 
name  of  Cock -tails.  They  are  also  called  Rove-beetles, 
from  their  great  agility,  and  Short-wings,  because  their 
outer,  or  sheath-wings,  are  so  short  that  the  long  wings 


222  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

they  use  in  flying  need  packing  and  arranging  before 
they  can  be  tucked  away  underneath.  This  they  do 
with  the  tip  of  their  tails,  and  hence  are  obliged  to  turn 
them  up  over  their  backs  ;  but  the  movement  seems  also 
to  be  made  in  self-defence,  possibly  with  an  idea  of  in- 
spiring terror.  And  the  Devil's  Coach-horse,  one  of  the 
largest  and  commonest  species,  more  than  an  inch  long, 
certainly  is  a  repulsive  and  ferocious-looking  insect.  (Fig.  45.) 

Most  of  the  little  black  "flies,"  which  annoy  us  by 
getting  into  our  eyes,  are  really  minute  Cock-tails,  some 
no  thicker  than  a  horse-hair ;  and  much  of  the  irritation 
they  cause  is  due  to  this  habit  of  turning  up  their  tails 
the  instant  they  alight. 

There  are  about  a  thousand  species  of  Cock-tails,  and 
all  are  extremely  voracious,  and  all,  more  or  less, 
scavengers.  One,  called  the  "  fish-fly,"  is  most  unplea- 
santly abundant  on  the  shores  of  Newfoundland,  where 
it  feeds  on  the  dead  and  dying  cod;  but  they  do  not 
confine  themselves  entirely  to  carrion,  and  some  of  them 
are  extremely  ferocious,  not  only  hunting  their  prey,  but 
attacking  and  devouring  their  own  kind.  Many,  especially 
the  Coach-horse,  are  inveterate  insect-feeders,  and  as  such 
ought  to  be  looked  upon  with  favour  by  the  gardener. 

Dung-beetles,  of  which  there  are  many  hundred  species, 
are  especially  numerous  in  the  tropics,  where  animal  life 
is  most  abundant;  and  first  among  them  is  the  great  scara- 
baeus  tribe,  species  of  which  are  found  in  all  the  warm  parts 
of  the  world.  The  sacred  Scarabseus  of  Egypt  (Fig.  46), 
which  is  hornless,  is  common  in  the  south  of  Europe, 
and  throughout  Africa.  It  has  a  very  odd  appearance 


THE  SACRED  SCARAB^US. 


223 


when  walking,  as  its  legs  are  set  far  apart;  but  it  is  this 
peculiar  structure  which  enables  it  to  roll  along  a  ball 
of  dung  from  an  inch  and  a  half  to  two  inches  in  diameter, 
which  it  does  standing  almost  on  its  head,  and  pushing  the 
ball  with  its  hind  legs,  much  as  a  horse  backs  a  cart.  The 
earth  being  usually  hard  and  stony  in  the  countries  where 
the  Scarabaeus  chiefly  dwells, 
it  has  to  search  for  a  soft  spot 
in  which  to  bury  the  ball,  which 
is  exactly  proportioned  in  size 
to  the  number  of  larvae  it  will 
have  to  feed.  The  labour  of 
rolling  it  is  great,  for  it  is  never 
quite  round ;  but  the  persever- 
ing beetle  toils  on  with  won- 
derful determination,  though 
obliged  now  and  then  to  stop 
and  rest  before  it  can  continue 
its  exertions.  Tired  or  not, 

however,  nothing  will  induce  it  to  give  up  the  precious 
ball  in  which  it  has  laid  its  eggs,  though  it  will  be  equally 
well  satisfied  with  the  ball  of  a  neighbour,  and  shows  no 
other  mark  of  attachment  to  its  offspring,  which  when  once 
buried  with  their  supply  of  food,  are  left  to  care  for  them- 
selves, as  they  are  well  able  to  do. 

Black  is  the  usual  colour  of  the  various  species  of 
Scarabaeus,  but  some  are  resplendent  with  the  richest 
metallic  colours.  Some  of  the  species  add  carrion  to  their 
other  diet,  and  feed  on  dead  fishes,  besides  acting  the  part 
of  sexton  to  dead  snakes,  which  they  speedily  bury. 


Fig.   46. — THE  SACRED  SCARA- 
B/EUS. 


224  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

There  is  no  English  Scarabreus,  but  we  have  many 
beetles  which  are  similarly  useful,  some  being  especially 
plentiful  on  turnpike  roads,  and  others  in  pasture  fields. 
The  earth-borers,  as  one  large  family  of  various  species  is 
called,  dig  with  their  fore-legs,  which  are  especially  adapted 
for  the  purpose,  being  powerful  and  notched. 

Though  hardly  to  be  seen  in  hot,  dry  weather,  the 
rain  has  no  sooner  softened  the  ground  sufficiently  for 
their  operations  than  they  appear  in  swarms,  and  work  with 
astonishing  rapidity,  both  clearing  away  what  is  offensive 
to  sight  and  smell,  and  turning  it  to  account  as  manure 
for  the  fields,  thus  doing  a  double  service,  which  is  of  the 
greatest  value. 

Of  all  the  English  species  not  one  is  more  useful  and 
active  than  the  heavy,  unwieldy  Dumble  Dor,  Clock,  or 
Flying  Watchman,  which  is  often  to  be  seen  lying  help- 
lessly on  its  back.  The  Dor  is  usually  of  a  glossy  violet 
or  blue-black,  sometimes  greenish-black,  and  sometimes 
quite  black ;  but,  whatever  its  colour,  it  is  always  glossy, 
and  always  clean,  in  spite  of  the  very  unclean  nature  of 
its  work,  in  which,  as  in  all  other  respects,  it  may  be  con- 
sidered a  model  scavenger,  though  how  it  can  escape 
unsoiled  is  a  mystery. 

It  is  sometimes  found  in  decaying  fungi,  but  it  is  usually 
attendant  on  cows,  and  Mr.  Wood  mentions  a  pasture  field 
which  was  entirely  cleaned  by  it  in  the  course  of  three  or 
four  days,  the  ground  being  literally  riddled  with  as  many  as 
forty  or  fifty  burrows  in  each  square  foot. 

Unlike  the  Scarabaeus,  the  Dumble  Dor  has  no  need  to 
spend  time  and  strength  in  search  for  a  convenient  spot 


WHAT  BECOMES  OF  THE  BIRDS'  NESTS.         225 

for  its  operations.  It  merely  digs  through  the  patch  which 
is  to  be  removed,  carrying  some  with  it  to  the  bottom  of  the 
hole,  which  is  as  many  as  twelve  inches  deep.  It  then 


lays    one    egg, 
crawls  up  to  the 
top,    and    sets 
to   work   again 
on  another  bur- 
row— a  truly  gi- 
gantic work    when   one    considers 
the  size  of  the  workman  employed. 
A   vast  army  must  have   been 
engaged  in  clearing  the  field   Mr. 
Wood  describes,  for  it   would,  as 
he    says,  have    occupied   a  strong 

body  of  men  a  considerable  time,  and  then,  after  all,  they 
could  not  have  manured  it  as  the  beetles  did,  without  first 
removing  the  turf. 

Has  it  ever  occurred  to  us  to  consider  what  becomes  of 
p 


Fig. 


47.— THE  CLOTHES 
MOTH. 


226  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

the  old  birds'  nests  ?  Were  they  left  to  accumulate  from 
year  to  .year,  the  trees  would  be  so  clogged  with  them 
that,  as  Mr.  Wood  points  out,  they  would  be  unable 
to  put  forth  their  leaves,  and  must  therefore  die.  Beetles 
and  moths,  however,  come  to  their  aid,  and  by  devouring 
the  sheep's  wool,  feathers,  &c.,  with  which  the  nests  are 
lined,  make  it  easy  for  wind  and  rain  to  scatter  the  other 
materials. 

Two  species  of  moths  are  especially  given  to  attacking 
old,  greasy  clothing,  such  as  horse-rugs,  which  have  been 
left  untouched  for  a  few  days  (Fig.  47).  Others  turn  their 
attention  to  carpets  and  carriage-linings,  and  another,  whose 
proper  food  is  also  wool,  will  eat  hair  of  any  kind,  even  horse- 
hair, and  will  shave  the  fur  off  a  skin  more  neatly  than  a 
razor. 

"  The  Tineida  epigraphia  is  the  smallest  of  all  moths," 
says  Alphonse  Karr,  "being  two  lines  wide,  when  its 
wings  are  outspread ;  but  how  magnificently  it  is  attired  ! 
It  is  robed  in  gold  and  silver,  and  on  the  silvery  gauze  of 
its  upper  wings  is  traced,  in  letters  of  gold,  an  inscrip- 
tion which  no  one  has  yet  succeeded  in  deciphering, 
though  I  fancy  I  can  read  it  thus  :  Maximus  in  minimis 
Deus  (God  is  greatest  in  His  smallest  works).  In  their 
larval  state  these  moths  eat  furniture,  silk  dresses,  furs, 
and  even  make  so  bold  as  to  attack  the  fur-caps  of  the 
grenadiers." 


227 


CHAPTER  XV. 

SCAVENGERS — CRUSTACEANS,    BIRDS,    AND    MAMMALS. 

Protozoa — Crustacea  :  Sand-hoppers,  Shrimps,  Crabs— The  Vultures  of  the 
Ocean — Vultures  on  Land :  "  Daddy  Long-beard,"  ' '  Pharaoh's  Hens." 
Turkey-buzzard,  King  of  the  Vultures — Crows — The  Gallinazo,  pro- 
tected by  law,  its  great  boldness — The  Caracara  and  Arabian  Kite — 
The  Adjutant,  Stork,  and  Domestic  Duck — Rats:  their  great  usefulness, 
personal  cleanliness,  fondness  for  Ivory  ;  how  they  have  been  made 
use  of  in  Paris — Pariah  Dogs,  Dogs  of  Constantinople,  Jackals,  Wolves, 
Hyaenas — Nature's  Scavengers  not  perfect. 

WHAT  becomes  of  the  dead  bodies  of  the  Polar 
bears,  reindeer,  birds,  &c.,  which  exist  in 
thousands  and  millions,  and  must  die  in  untold  numbers?" 
Professor  Nordenskjold  asks  the  question,  but  does  not 
answer  it,  though  he  says  that  "  self-dead "  animals  are  so 
rarely  seen  in  the  Arctic  regions,  that  it  is  easier  to  obtain 
fossil  bones  than  recent  ones.  Evidently,  therefore,  the 
scavenging  is  very  thoroughly  done  by  some  means  or 
other. 

Mr.  Bates  is  equally  struck  with  its  thoroughness  in 
another  department,  namely  in  the  fresh-water  pools  or  lakes 
on  the  Upper  Amazons.  "  How  elaborate  must  be  the 
natural  processes  of  self-purification  in  these  teeming  waters," 
he  says,  "  for  the  water  is  quite  pure,  no  scum  of  confervae,  or 
trace  of  animal  decomposition  is  to  be  seen  on  the  surface, 
no  foul  smell  is  ever  perceptible,  and  the  whole  of  the  level 


228  THE  WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

land  is  most  healthy,  instead  of  being  covered  with  malaria- 
breeding  swamps." 

Much  of  this  scavenging  is  no  doubt  accomplished,  as 
has  already  been  said,  by  vegetation,  and  much  also  by  the 
various  Protozoa,  multitudes  of  which  exist  everywhere 
in  still  water. 

But,  to  go  on  to  creatures  whose  labours  we  are  better 
able  to  appreciate,  among  the  most  active  coast-scavengers 
must  be  reckoned  the  great  army  of  the  Crustacea,  all  of 
which  are  flesh-eaters,  from  the  water-flea  to  the  lobster,  and 
all,  it  would  seem,  voracious,  though  some  are  more  par- 
ticular than  others. 

The  sand-hopper,  for  instance,  will  feed  on  almost  any- 
thing which  is  soft  and  capable  of  decay,  and  does  not 
despise  a  meal  of  seaweed;  the  crab  will  eat  only  fresh 
food,  and  putrid  bait  is  reserved  by  the  fisherman  for  the 
lobster,  which  is  said  to  prefer  its  food  highly  seasoned. 

The  thousands  of  little  creatures,  exactly  like  common 
woodlice,  which  swarm  about  cliffs  and  piers,  are  vegetable 
feeders,  and  will  devour,  according  to  Frank  Buckland,  the 
planks  of  boats  and  eat  up  sails  and  nets  if  these  are  left 
undisturbed  for  any  time  ;  but  the  sea- lice  eat  animal  food, 
and  "  in  the  United  Service  Museum  are  some  very  perfect 
skeletons  of  sea  birds,"  made  by  them  in  the  Arctic  regions. 
"  The  birds  were  let  down  into  the  sea  to  an  immense 
depth,  and  left  there  twenty-four  hours ;  these  bones  are  as 
white  as  ivory." 

Though  they  do  not  come  under  the  head  of  crus- 
taceans, we  must  here  mention  that  tadpoles  are  likewise 
good  skeleton-makers,  and  that  very  perfect  skeletons  of 


THE  SCAVENGER  OF  THE  OCEAN.  229 

small  animals  are  sometimes  found  made  by  them  in  ponds. 
Tadpoles  will  eat  up  a  dead  kitten,  and  will  also  condescend 
to  decayed  vegetable  matter,  but  when  other  food  fails  they 
turn  cannibals  and  prey  upon  one  another. 

Among  the  lesser  fresh-water  scavengers  are  certain 
little  long,  narrow  worms,  with  which  dead,  and  even  sickly 
fishes  are  often  found  to  be  covered. 

But  to  return  to  the  crustaceans,  among  which  the  common 
shrimp  (Fig.  48)  is  pre-eminent  as  a  "capital  skeleton- 


Fig.  48. — THE  COMMON  BROWN  SHRIMP. 

maker."  So  voracious  is  he  that  he  is  called,  par  excellence^ 
the  "scavenger  of  the  ocean,"  but  the  crab,  both  in  water  and 
on  land  is  an  equally  diligent  consumer  of  dead  animals ; 
and  among  crabs  one  of  the  most  useful  is  the  Thorn-back 
Spider-crab,  which,  though  he  does  good  service  in  the 
sea,  is  more  especially  useful  along  the  coast,  thanks  to 
his  large  appetite  and  the  keen  sense  which  guides  him 
unerringly  to  his  food.  But  for  his  labours  the  sea-shore 
would  often  be  anything  but  a  charming  recreation  ground, 
for  the  sands  would  be  strewn  with  the  dead  bodies  of 


230  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

unsaleable  fish,  as  well  as  with  the  offal  resulting  from  the 
processes  of  skinning  and  dressing  often  performed  there 
by  fishermen.  As  it  is,  however,  the  crabs  arrive  in  such 
myriads  and  work  so  busily  that  by  the  next  tide  hardly 
a  trace  of  anything  unpleasant  remains,  though  bones 
picked  perfectly  clean  may  be  seen  strewing  the  sand 
in  numbers,  showing  how  abundant  the  banquet  has 
been. 

The  Spider-crab,  assisted  by  others  of  different  species, 
sets  to  work  boldly,  holding  on  to  the  fish  with  one  claw 
and  with  the  other  tearing  off  the  flesh  and  conveying  it  to 
its  mouth  with  the  regularity  of  clockwork,  or  of  a  Chinaman 
plying  his  chopsticks.  So  strong  and  sharp  are  its  claws  that 
no  muscle  is  tough  enough  to  withstand  them,  and  the  fish 
bones  are  cleaned  as  thoroughly  as  if  they  had  been  scraped 
by  a  knife.  But  in  the  process,  a  number  of  minute  frag- 
ments are  detached,  which,  though  too  small  for  the  large 
pincers  of  the  crab,  would  yet  make  their  presence  very 
unpleasantly  felt  if  they  were  left  to  decay.  This,  however, 
is  not  the  fate  of  these  tiny  scraps,  for  the  crab  carries  with 
it  a  whole  army  of  lesser  scavengers,  for  which  this  mince- 
meat is  exactly  adapted.  These  are  various  small  zoophytes, 
such  as  the  sea-fir,  &c.,  which  attach  themselves  to  its 
armour,  sometimes  in  such  numbers  as  to  entirely  cover 
both  body  and  limbs,  and  thus  are  always  on  the  spot  to 
clear  up  the  relics  of  the  feast.  Crabs  will  devour  any  kind 
of  animal  food  that  comes  in  their  way,  and  on  the  desolate 
St.  Paul's  Rocks,  which  are  tenanted  only  by  countless 
multitudes  of  sea-birds,  they  quickly  pick  the  bones  of 
any  dead  individual. 


GULLS  AND  PETRELS.  231 

Eels  also  feed  on  carrion,  and  most  fishes  are  as  ready 
to  eat  the  dead  as  the  living,  so  that  any  carcass  which  is 
washed  into  the  sea,  or  even  left  near  shore,  is  soon  dis- 
posed of. 

The  large  white-winged  Glaucous  gull,  which  builds 
in  Greenland  and  Iceland,  and  comes  as  far  south 
as  Shetland  in  the  winter,  resorts  to  the  entrances  of  the 
more  exposed  bays,  or  waits  about  a  few  miles  from  shore 
in  attendance  on  the  fishing-boats,  to  pick  up  the  offal 
thrown  out  of  them.  The  Dutch  call  it  the  Burgomaster 
or  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  birds  in  Spitzbergen,  where  it 
follows  the  whale-fishers,  in  company  with  the  Fulmar 
Petrel  and  Kittiwake,  or  Ivory  gull,  which  it  forces  to  give 
up  their  most  dainty  morsels  whenever  it  takes  a  fancy  to 
them.  It  is  very  dexterous  in  carrying  off  its  food  on  the 
wing. 

The  common  gull  may  frequently  be  seen  hunting  for 
refuse  on  any  sandy  flats,  such  as  those  about  the  Thames, 
but  the  Skua  gull  is  seldom  seen  so  far  south.  It  also  feeds 
on  dead  whales  and  other  carrion,  but  it  is  a  bird  of  low 
and  disgusting  character,  justly  called  the  parasite,  for  it 
is  supported  by  the  labour  of  others,  and  harasses  the 
smaller  gulls,  which  it  obliges  to  disgorge  their  prey  to 
satisfy  it. 

The  Fulmar  Petrels  follow  in  the  wake  of  the  whalers  as 
soon  as  they  have  passed  the  Shetland  Isles,  being  very 
greedy  of  whale-fat,  and  as  soon  as  a  whale  is  cut  up  they 
flock  together  in  thousands  and  follow  the  boats  boldly  at 
the  distance  of  but  a  few  yards.  When  carrion  is  scarce 
they  follow  the  living  whale,  and  so  point  out  his  where- 


232  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

abouts  to  the  fishermen  ;  but  should  a  dead  whale  chance  to 
be  stranded  anywhere,  they  cannot  make  much  impression 
on  the  carcass  till  some  more  powerful  bills  have  torn  away 
the  skin. 

In  New  Jersey,  the  black-headed  gull  haunts  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  farmhouses  and  river  banks,  picking  up  garbage 
and  other  refuse  of  the  fishermen ;  and  about  the  middle  of 
May  great  multitudes  assemble  in  the  Delaware  Bay  to 
feed  on  the  remains  of  the  king-crabs  left  by  the  hogs. 

Gulls  (Fig.  49)  are  the  vultures  of  the  ocean,  and  besides 
keeping  careful  watch  over  the  labours  of  whalers  and  fisher- 
men may  be  seen  in  numbers  following  a  shoal  of  porpoises 
and  picking  up  the  bitten  and  wounded  fishes,  which  the 
porpoises  themselves  have  not  time  to  do  when  going  full 
chase  after  their  prey. 

Vultures,  though  chiefly  frequenting  warm  countries,  are 
found  more  or  less  all  over  the  world,  and,  though  most  of 
them  are  disgusting  in  their  ways  and  unpleasant  both  to  sight 
and  smell,  are  almost  everywhere  protected  in  civilised 
countries  for  the  sake  of  the  great  services  they  render. 

In  the  south  of  Europe  they  are  kept  in  the  market- 
places, as  storks  are  in  Holland,  and  for  the  same  purpose — 
to  eat  up  the  garbage;  and,  being  protected  by  heavy 
penalties,  are  extremely  familiar  and  independent;  and  at 
Natchez  swarm  in  such  numbers  that  all  the  refuse  of  the 
place  is  not  enough  to  feed  them. 

The  vultures,  indeed,  do  their  scavenging  on  a  more 
extensive  scale  than  either  the  dogs  of  Constantinople  or 
the  storks  of  India  and  Holland. 

The  largest  of  all  the  vultures  are  the  Great  Bearded 


THE  GREAT  VULTURES 


Fig.  49.— THE  GREAT  BLACK- 
BACKED  GULL. 


Vulture  or  Lammergeier,  and 
the    great    Condor    of    the 
Andes,  about  which  so  many 
exaggerated  stories  have  been  told.  They 
are  of  about  equal  size,  averaging  from 
eight  to  nine  feet  across  the  wings ;  both 
seem   to   prefer   carrion,   and    are    in- 
valuable scavengers,  but  will  kill  their  prey  when  necessary, 


234  THE  WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

and  are  looked  upon  as  foes  by  shepherds  and  herdsmen. 
The  favourite  haunts  of  the  Condor  are  the  regions  of  per- 
petual snow,  from  which  it  seldom  descends ;  and  the 
Liimmergeier  frequents  the  Alps  and  higher  mountains  of 
Europe,  a  variety  of  it  being  also  found  in  many  parts  ot 
Africa,  where  it  is  called  "Daddy  Long-Beard."  Bruce,  the 
traveller,  mentions  that  on  one  occasion  when  he  was  cook- 
ing his  dinner  on  a  mountain  top,  one  of  these  birds  boldly 
swooped  down  and  put  its  foot  into  the  pot  where  some 
goat's  flesh  was  boiling,  but  not  being  prepared  for  the  heat, 
withdrew  it  again  speedily.  Being  very  fearless,  how- 
ever, it  at  last  managed  to  carry  off  a  leg  and  a  shoulder 
from  the  dish.  When  shot  it  was  found  to  measure  eight 
feet  four  inches  across  the  wings. 

The  Egyptian  or  Alpine  vulture,  which  inhabits  Europe, 
Asia,  and  Africa,  being  nearly  white,  is  called  "White 
Crow  "  by  the  Dutch,  and  "  White  Father  "  by  the  Turks. 
A  pair  are  attached  to  every  group  of  natives  in  South 
Africa,  and  are  to  a  certain  extent  domesticated,  being 
perfectly  harmless,  and  very  useful  in  clearing  the  premises 
of  offal.  In  the  East  they  walk  fearlessly  about  in  the 
streets,  helping  the  pariah  dogs,  and  eating  almost  any- 
thing. 

About  Cairo,  where  it  is  considered  a  breach  of  order  to 
kill  them,  they  are  called  "Pharaoh's  Hens."  They  are 
plentiful  in  Turkey,  Arabia,  and  Persia,  and  are  always  to 
be  seen  about  the  camps  and  cantonments  in  India ;  but 
they  also  frequent  the  Alps  and  Pyrenees,  and  all  the 
countries  bordering  on  the  Mediterranean. 

Just  as  gulls  follow  ships,  so  do  these  vultures  follow 


EGYPTIAN  VULTURES.  235 

the  caravans  across  the  desert,  in  the  hope  that  something 
in  the  shape  of  a  worn-out  camel  may  turn  up  to  their 
advantage. 

It  is  said  that  during  the  war  between  France  and 
England  in  the  last  century,  the  sharks  learnt  to  know  when 
a  naval  engagement  was  about  to  take  place,  and  would 
assemble  in  the  neighbourhood  to  be  in  readiness  ; 
and  in  a  similar  way  it  was  noticed  that  during  the 
French  occupation  of  Egypt,  the  vultures  became  so  well 
acquainted  with  the  meaning  of  the  roar  of  artillery  that 
they  would  flock  together  from  all  quarters  as  soon  as  the 
first  gun  was  fired.* 

Egyptian  vultures  are  the  most  conspicuous  birds  in  the 
island  of  St.  Vincent,  and  outside  the  town  of  Porto  Grande 
may  be  seen  hunting  over  the  heaps  of  refuse  in  company 
with  ravens  and  crows,  or  lazily  perched,  half-a-dozen 
together,  on  the  carcass  of  a  horse  or  bullock  which  has 
been  carelessly  half  buried  in  the  shingle,  or,  more  carelessly 
still,  merely  flung  out  of  the  town  to  pollute  the  air  far  and 
near  until  these  scavengers  have  disposed  of  it.  Having 
gorged  themselves,  according  to  custom,  until  they  are 

*  "It  is  extraordinary,"  writes  Frank  Buckland,  "how  soon  animals 
and  birds  find  out  where  there  is  anything  to  eat.  The  regiment  to  which 
I  belong  very  frequently  marches  down  to  Wormwood  Scrubs  for  field-days. 
Upon  arriving  at  the  Scrubs  I  have  not  seen  a  single  rook  ;  but  the  rooks 
very  soon  appear  :  they  come  to  pick  out  what  they  can  from  the  dung  of  the 
horses,  and  the  bits  of  bread  which  drop  out  of  the  paper  in  which  the  men 
carry  their  refreshment.  The  rooks  always  go  to  the  place  where  the 
regiment  has  dismounted,  as  there  they  find  most  to  eat.  These  rooks 
come,  I  believe,  from  the  trees  in  Holland  Park — they  certainly  often  arrive 
from  that  direction." 


236  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

unable  to  fly,  they  will  just  flutter  off  a  few  yards  when 
disturbed,  but  will  not  trouble  themselves  to  do  more. 

The  Aura  vulture,  popularly  known  as  the  Turkey- 
buzzard,  from  its  resemblance  to  the  farmyard-gobbler,  is 
found  wherever  the  country  is  moderately  damp.  On  the 
coast  of  Patagonia  it  lives  solely  on  what  the  waves  throw 
up,  dead  seals  and  the  like,  and  each  herd  of  seals  is  sure 
to  have  a  Turkey- buzzard  watching  it  attentively.  In  hot 
countries  it  is  a  great  blessing,  and  enjoys  the  protection  of 
the  American  Spaniards,  to  whom  it  is  very  useful,  since  it 
haunts  the  slaughter-houses,  walking  about  as  tamely  as  the 
barndoor  fowl,  and  eating  up  all  the  refuse.  To  the  planter 
it  is  also  welcome,  and  the  day  after  the  customary  burning 
of  the  trash  in  the  cane-fields,  it  is  sure  to  be  there  feeding 
on  the  snakes,  lizards,  frogs,  and  other  animals,  which  have 
been  stifled  by  the  smoke.  It  also  did  inestimable  service, 
says  Mr.  Waterton,  during  the  plague  in  Malaga,  for  it  was 
impossible  to  bury  the  dead,  and  though  they  were  thrown 
into  the  sea,  many  were  washed  on  shore  again,  and  when 
the  wind  blew  landwards  might  have  produced  a  second 
pestilence  but  for  the  vultures  which  came  down  from 
the  hills. 

The  King  of  the  Vultures,  a  bird  with  bare  head  and 
neck,  which  are  coloured  rich  scarlet  on  both  sides,  is 
so  called  from  the  respect  with  which  he  is  treated  by 
the  common  vultures,  none  of  whom  seem  inclined  to 
begin  their  meal  until  he  has  finished  his,  though  as  many 
as  a  score  may  be  present  watching  him,  and  will  fall 
to  eagerly  when  he  has  withdrawn. 

In  England  the  chief  scavenger-birds,  besides  the  gull, 


AND  RAVENS.  237 

are  the  raven,  magpie,  hooded  or  Royston  crow,  and 
the  carrion-crow,  which  is,  in  fact,  a  small  raven ;  but 
the  last  two  are  so  destructive  that  in  some  places  a 
price  has  been  put  upon  their  heads.  The  hooded  crow 
frequents  marshes  near  the  sea,  and  the  banks  of  tidal 
rivers,  such  as  the  Thames,  where  it  may  be  seen  within 
a  few  miles  of  London.  In  the  western  isles  of  Scotland 
flocks  of  five  hundred  may  be  seen  in  the  month  of  June, 
and,  like  the  carrion-crow,  feed  on  dead  fish  and  refuse 
of  any  kind,  but  also  on  living  mollusks — as  cockles, 
mussels,  and  the  like, — which  they  drop  from  a  height,  in 
order  to  break  their  shells.  • 

Crows  are  widely  distributed  in  most  parts  of  the 
world  ;  the  raven  being  the  most  conspicuous  member 
of  the  tribe.  It  is  widely  known  north  of  the  equator, 
and  is  protected  in  Bengal,  and  unmolested  in  Egypt. 
It  is  an  indiscriminate  feeder,  and  while  on  the  coast 
it  subsists  on  dead  fishes,  in  the  polar  regions  it  follows 
the  herds  of  bison  and  reindeer,  ready  to  take  advantage 
of  any  that  may  be  disabled  by  accident,  or  killed  by  wild 
beasts.  No  sooner  has  an  animal  been  slaughtered  by  the 
huntsman  than  crows  arrive  in  numbers.  It  is  also  a  constant 
attendant  at  the  fishing  stations,  and  in  North  America, 
where  it  abounds,  it  robs  the  hunters'  traps  ;  and  in  the 
United  States,  whenever  the  deer  are  hunted  without 
dogs  it  arrives  to  take  part  in  the  sport,  and,  not  satisfied 
with  what  rightfully  falls  to  its  share,  obliges  the  huntsmen 
to  be  very  careful  in  concealing  such  game  as  they  are 
unable  to  remove  from  the  woods,  as  its  scent  is  very 
keen. 


238  THE  WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

The  raven  of  Mexico  and  South  Africa  is  of  a  different 
and  larger  species  than  that  known  in  the  north.  In 
South  America  it  seems  to  be  altogether  wanting,  but  its 
place  is  well  supplied  by  the  numerous  Caracaras  and 
the  Gallinazo.  The  latter,  called  also  Vulture  Jota,  Black 
vulture,  Zopilote,  Urubu,  and  carrion-crow,  is  of  the  size 
of  a  peahen,  and,  together  with  the  Condor  and  King 
vulture,  belongs  to  the  small  family  of  "flesh-bearded 
vultures." 

The  Gallinazo,  though  seldom  seen  on  the  Atlantic, 
north  of  Newbern,  in  North  Carolina,  is  said  to  be  found 
at  Detroit,  Lake  Erie,  and  is  very  common  in  the  south, 
where  it  ranges  as  far  as  Cape  Horn.  Its  preference 
is  for  a  damp  climate  or  the  neighbourhood  of  water,  and 
it  abounds  throughout  the  pampas,  is  preserved  as  a  sca- 
venger in  Peru,  and  is  generally  protected  by  law  throughout 
tropical  America. 

In  many  of  the  towns  and  villages  of  the  Southern 
States  it  is  as  common  as  poultry,  and  may  be  seen 
sauntering  in  the  streets,  loitering  indolently  for  hours  at 
a  time  in  one  place,  or  sunning  itself  on  the  roofs  and 
fences,  and  cowering  over  the  chimneys  if  the  weather 
be  cold  The  townspeople,  though  disgusted  by  its  filthy 
voracity,  and  particularly  by  a  most  unpleasant  habit  of 
disgorging  its  food  down  their  chimneys  sometimes,  when 
it  has  eaten  too  much,  yet  respect  it  as  a  valuable  scavenger, 
and,  accordingly,  it  is  protected  either  by  law  or  custom. 

Don  Ulloa  speaks  of  the  Gallinazo  as  familiar  in 
Carthagena,  which  it  cleanses  of  all  animal  impurities, 
and  calls  it  an  "excellent  provision  of  nature,"  for  in  that 


THE  GALLINAZO.  239 

hot,  damp  climate  the  effluvium  arising  from  putrefaction 
would  be  quite  intolerable.  In  the  town  of  Savannah  it 
walks  about  in  great  numbers,  devoting  especial  attention 
to  the  quarter  inhabited  by  the  hog-butchers.  But  it  is 
said  also  to  scent,  or  in  some  way  to  discover,  carrion  at 
a  distance  of  three  or  four  leagues.  Its  sight  is  certainly 
extraordinarily  keen,  for  when  compelled  to  search  for  food 
it  rises  to  such  a  height  as  to  dwindle  down  to  a  hardly 
visible  black  speck,  yet  from  that  vast  distance  it  watches 
intently  the  movements  of  both  animals  and  hunters, 
knowing  well  that  the  latter  often  kill  a  bison  for  the  sake 
of  its  skin  and  marrow-bones,  and  leave  the  carcass  for  its 
benefit. 

The  Turkey-buzzard  will  wait  and  watch  its  food,  not 
condescending  to  touch  it  until  it  is  well  seasoned  ;  but  the 
Gallinazo  is  less  fastidious.  A  horse  having  dropped  down 
and  died  in  the  streets  of  Charleston,  the  carcass  was 
dragged  out  to  the  suburb  of  Hampstead,  where  in  a  short 
time  it  was  covered  and  surrounded  by  a  dense  crowd  of 
these  so-called  "  carrion-crows,"  many  of  which  sat  on  the 
tops  of  sheds,  fences,  and  houses,  while  several  hovered  in 
the  air  overhead,  and  at  a  distance.  At  one  time  237  were 
counted,  but  probably  this  does  not  represent  the  whole 
number;  for  the  ground  was  simply  black  with  them  for 
the  space  of  a  hundred  yards  on  all  sides  of  the  carcass, 
thirty-seven  were  upon  and  immediately  around  it,  so 
that  scarcely  an  inch  of  it  was  visible,  and  several  were 
inside,  presenting  a  most  savage  appearance  as  they  from 
time  to  time  emerged.  Three  or  four  dogs  were  assisting 
at  the  scene,  growling  and  snapping  when  the  wings  of  the 


240  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

11  crows  "  flapped  them  ;  but  though  the  birds  sprang  up  for 
a  moment  they  were  not  alarmed,  and  did  not  disturb 
themselves  even  when  the  dogs'  master  advanced  near 
enough  to  order  them  home. 

Though  always  bold,  and  generally  protected,  the 
Gallinazo  does  not  seem  to  meet  with  quite  such  friendly 
treatment  in  Villa  Nova  as  elsewhere,  perhaps  because 
licence  has  made  it  too  troublesome. 

It  assembles  in  great  numbers  in  the  villages,  Mr. 
Bates  tells  us,  about  the  end  of  the  wet  season,  and  is 
then  so  ravenous  with  hunger  that  it  is  not  safe  to  leave 
the  open  kitchen  for  a  moment  while  the  dinner  is  cooking. 
Some  of  the  birds  are  always  loitering  about,  watching  their 
opportunity,  and  the  instant  the  cook's  back  is  turned, 
they  will  march  in  and  lift  the  lids  of  the  saucepans  with 
their  beaks.  The  boys  of  the  village  lie  in  wait  and  shoot 
them  with  bow  and  arrow,  and  the  vultures  have  come 
to  have  such  a  dread  of  these  weapons  that  a  bow  sus- 
pended from  the  rafters  of  the  kitchen  is  often  enough  to 
keep  them  off.  As  the  dry  season  advances,  multitudes  of 
them  follow  the  fishermen  to  the  lakes,  where  they  stuff 
themselves  with  the  offal  of  the  fisheries,  and  when,  towards 
February,  they  return  to  the  villages,  they  are  not  nearly  so 
ravenous  as  before  their  summer  trips. 

In  South  America,  when  the  Gallinazo  has  begun  the 
feast,  the  bones  are  picked  clean  by  two  species  of  Caracara, 
or  Carrancha,  which,  from  their  structure,  are  called  eagles, 
though  in  habit  they  resemble  the  carrion-crow. 

The  larger  of  these  two,  the  Brazilian  Caracara  swarms 
in  the  desert  between  the  Negro  and  Colorado,  where 


FALSE  EAGLES.  241 

it  watches  the  line  of  road  to  devour  the  carcases  of 
exhausted  animals.  It  is  most  numerous  on  the  grassy 
savannahs  of  La  Plata,  but  also  frequents  the  sterile 
plains  of  Patagonia,  and  although  these  false  eagles  rarely 
kill  their  prey,  any  one  who  falls  asleep  on  the  plains 
will  see  on  awaking  that  he  has  been  watched  with  evil  eye 
by  a  Caracara  perched  on  each  hillock  near  him.  Like 
the  Gallinazo,  it  is  to  a  certain  .extent  domesticated,  and 
constantly  attends  the  slaughter-houses,  while  several  will 
accompany  a  hunting-party. 

The  other  species  of  Caracara,  called  Chimango,  is 
much  smaller,  and  is  generally  the  last  to  leave  a  skeleton, 
and  may  often  be  seen,  like  a  bird  in  a  cage,  running  about 
within  the  ribs  of  a  cow  or  horse.  It  is  extraordinarily  tame 
and  fearless,  haunts  the  neighbourhood  of  houses  for  offal, 
and  if  a  hunting-party  kills  an  animal,  it  soon  assembles 
in  numbers,  standing  on  the  ground  on  all  sides  and 
waiting  patiently  until  its  turn  comes.  It  will  readily  at- 
tack wounded  birds,  and  several  together  will  even  seize  a 
cormorant. 

It  is  a  mischievous  and  very  inquisitive  bird,  and  Mr. 
Darwin  mentions  that  it  would  not  only  tear  the  leather 
from  the  rigging  and  carry  off  meat  or  game  hung  up  in  the 
stern  of  the  vessel,  but  would  also  pick  up  almost  anything 
from  the  ground,  and  on  one  occasion  carried  a  large  black 
glazed  hat  nearly  a  mile,  and  on  another  took  away  a  small 
compass  in  a  red  morocco  case,  which  was  never  recovered. 
All  the  carrion-birds  are  commonly  protected  in  tropical 
America,  and  so  also  in  the  eastern  hemisphere  is  the 
Arabian  kite,  which  haunts  human  habitations  and  pays  a 
Q 


242  THE  WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

visit  to  every  house  in  the  village  to  which  it  attaches  itself. 
At  St.  Jago,  says  Mr.  Moseley,  a  flock  of  kites  will  come 
swooping  about  the  ships  to  pick  up  garbage,  which  they 
seize  in  their  claws  with  wonderful  precision,  putting  out 
one  foot  to  snatch  the  morsel  and  then  bending  their  heads 
and  eating  it  at  once  on  the  wing.  This  manoeuvre  is  not 
always  a  safe  one,  however,  as  a  shark  will  sometimes  snap 
at  the  bird's  foot  and  pull  it  under  the  water. 

In  India,  the  Bramah  kites,  or  "  Bromley  kites,"  as  the 
sailors  call  them,  haunt  the  ships  with  similar  intent,  and 
are  extremely  bold.  On  one  occasion,  as  a  ship's  steward 
was  carrying  a  hot  steak  from  the  galley  to  the  cabin,  a 
kite  swooped  down  on  him,  caught  up  the  meat  with  its 
Toot,  and  was  off  again  in  an  instant,  leaving  the  man 
bespattered  with  gravy.  These  kites  also  frequent  the 
places  where  the  Parsees  expose  their  dead. 

The  Argala,  or  Adjutant,  a  bird  of  the  stork  tribe,  has 
obtained  the  latter  title  from  the  fact  of  its  being  a 
constant  visitor  to  the  parade-grounds  in  India,  and  pre- 
sinting  a  resemblance  to  the  dress  and  dignified  walk  of  the 
military  officer  of  the  same  name.  The  bird,  however, 
also  condescends  to  make  itself  generally  useful  by  clean- 
ing the  streets.  This  it  does  most  thoroughly,  for  its 
appetite  is  large,  and  it  can  accommodate  a  full-grown  cat  or 
a  leg  of  mutton  without  difficulty. 

The  great  White  Stork,  about  which  the  Germans  and 
Dutch  have  so  many  pretty  fancies,  is  a  well-known  summer 
visitor  in  many  parts  of  Europe,  and,  besides  consuming 
offal,  helps  to  keep  within  bounds  the  swarm  of  frogs  with 
which  Holland  would  otherwise  be  over-run.  It  walks 


DOMESTIC  SCAVENGERS.  243 

fearlessly  about  the  streets  and  fish-markets,  and  builds  its 
nests  on  the  top  of  almost  every  pillar  in  the  ruined  cities 
of  the  East. 

We  must  conclude  this  brief  account  of  the  principal 
scavenger  birds  by  mentioning  that  the  domestic  Duck 
is  as  greedy  a  consumer  of  filth  as  any  vulture,  and 
does  not  shrink  even  from  devouring  her  own  deceased 
kindred  when  opportunity  offers.  Much  the  same  may 
also  be  said  of  the  Pig,  which  will  eat  garbage,  and 
even  carrion  of  any  kind,  and  is  therefore  too  often  con- 
verted into  a  domestic  scavenger  by  unthinking  people,  who 
put  tainted  meat,  decaying  vegetables,  sour  food,  and 
refuse  of  all  kinds  into  that  often  terrible  receptacle,  the 
pig-tub,  and  then  expect  their  pig  to  convert  its  evil- 
smelling  contents  into  wholesome,  or  at  least  eatable  arid 
saleable  pork  for  them. 

Rats  are  in  general  miscellaneous  feeders,  and,  when 
pressed  by  hunger,  will  eat  almost  anything ;  but  the  Nor- 
way Rat,  as  it  is  called,  which  has  nearly  exterminated  the 
old  English  black  rat,  frequents  the  premises  of  bone- 
boilers  and  knackers,  as  well  as  the  sewers.  Originally  a 
native  of  India  or  Persia,  it  seems  to  have  moved  on  into 
European  Russia,  whence  it  has  been  carried  by  merchant 
ships  all  over  the  world,  and  wherever  it  has  been  intro- 
duced has  speedily  ousted  the  native  rats.  The  Black  Rat 
lives  chiefly  in  the  ceilings  and  wainscots  of  houses,  &c., 
does  not  affect  such  low  places  as  pig-sties  and  cellars, 
and  is  but  rarely  found  in  the  sewers,  where  the  Norway  rat 
swarms. 

The   rat,  though  one   of  the  most  despised  and   tor- 


244  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

merited  animals,  is  yet,  says  Mr.  Buckland,  a  -most  useful 
servant,  for  wherever  man  settles \  there,  as  if  by  magic,  the 
rat  makes  his  appearance.  Thousands  of  rats  lived  in  the 
camp  before  Sebastopol,  and  they  swarm  at  Aldershot, 
where  the  sentries  see  them  at  night  going  to  the  nearest 
water  to  drink,  for  the  rat  is  a  thirsty  animal,  and  soon  dies 
if  kept  without  water. 

The  rat  clears  away  every  particle  of  refuse  and  filth  he 
can  get  at,  and  does  invaluable  service  not  only  in  camp 
but  in  the  sewers  adjoining  some  of  the  London  slaughter- 
houses, which  are  often  nearly  choked  with  offal  and  refuse 
animal-matter  thrown  into  them  by  the  careless  butchers. 
But  for  the  persecuted  rats,  who  live  there  in  swarms  and 
devour  every  morsel,  this  putrid  mass,  if  left  neglected, 
would  give  rise  to  fearful  plagues. 

The  rat  is  the  only  animal  which  can  thrive  and  keep  a 
clean  coat  in  the  most  filthy  localities  where  the  air  would 
be  fatal  to  any  other  creature  ;  and,  in  spite  of  the  unclean 
places  he  frequents,  he  is  personally  very  particular  about 
cleanliness,  and  never  eats  a  morsel  of  food  without  cleaning 
himself;  nor  does  the  garbage  upon  which  he  feeds  poison 
his  teeth,  as  has  been  said,  or  render  the  wounds  he  inflicts 
with  them  deadly. 

Rats  have  very  sharp  teeth,  and  are  so  fond  of  taking  a 
nibble  at  the  tip  of  an  elephant's  tusk  that  much  of  the  ivory 
imported  bears  evidence  of  having  been  gnawed  by  them. 
Indian  ivory  they  will  not  touch  because  it  is  deficient  in 
animal  glue,  or  gelatine,  and  of  the  African  they  taste  only 
the  best  tusks,  and  of  these  only  the  purest  and  most 
delicate  portion ;  and  the  turner,  well  knowing  that  he  may 


RATS  EMPLOYED  IN  PARIS.  245 

trust  to  their  judgment,  chooses  a  tusk  which  the  rats  have 
gnawed  when  he  wants  a  specially  good  bit  of  ivory. 

Mr.  P.  L.  Simmonds  mentions  that  rats  are,  or  were, 
turned  to  account  in  another  way  in  Paris,  where  there  is  a 
large  pound,  covering  some  ten  acres  of  ground  and  sur- 
rounded by  a  stone  wall,  to  which  all  dead  carcases  are 
brought.  The  bones  of  the  animals  are  valuable ,  and  so,  of 
course,  are  their  hides  ;  but  they  must  be  freed  from  the 
flesh,  and  how  to  get  rid  of  this  in  a  sufficiently  expeditious, 
economical,  and  inoffensive  way,  was  a  difficulty,  until  some 
one  suggested  that  rats  might  be  employed.  They  were 
accordingly  introduced  by  thousands,  and  did  the  work 
required  of  them  to  perfection,  for  a  dead  horse  put  in  at 
night  would  be  found  turned  into  a  neat  and  even  polished 
skeleton  by  the  morning. 

Among  field-scavengers  must  be  reckoned  the  hedge- 
hog, which  feeds  on  animal  and  vegetable  refuse,  devours 
dead  game  which  the  sportsman  has  lost,  and  probably  puts 
out  of  their  misery  such  wounded  creatures  as  have  escaped 
the  dogs  and  have  crept  into  some  hole  to  die. 

But  of  air  the  mammalia,  the  most  genuine  carrion- 
feeders  are  the  canidce,  or  dog-tribe,  and  the  hyaenas. 
Though  undoubtedly  of  great  use,  they  are  not  perfect 
scavengers,  inasmuch  as  they  prefer  their  food  tainted,  and 
hence  their  own  odour,  like  that  of  the  vultures,  is  disgust- 
ing. 

The  pariah  dogs  are  a  feature  of  Eastern  cities  too  well 
known  to  need  much  remark.  In  Ceylon  they  are  not 
natives,  but  European  mongrels,  a  most  miserable  race, 
having  no  owners,  living  on  the  refuse  of  streets  and  sewers, 


246 


THE  WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 


and  subject,  as  the  reward  for  their  services  throughout  the 
year,  to  a  general  annual  massacre  to  keep  down  their 
numbers. 

As  for  the  celebrated  dogs  of  Constantinople  (Fig.  50)) 
to  whom  the  scavenging  of  that  city  is  mainly  left,  they 
are  creatures  with  whom,  as  a  traveller  wrote  to  us  a  few 


Fig.  50. — STREET  DOGS  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE. 

years  ago,  "all  well-conducted  sprigs  ot  canine  nobility 
would  indignantly  refuse  to  recognise  any  connection.  They 
have  four  legs  and  a  weakness  for  barking  and  biting,  but 
here  all  resemblance  to  their  European  namesakes  abruptly 
ceases.  Here  they  are  the  lords  of  creation,  and  though  in 
all  conceivable  stages  of  manginess  and  disease,  are  suffered 
to  lie  unmolested  in  the  middle  of  the  streets,  and  receive  a 
sort  of  superstitious  homage  from  their  Turkish  masters. 
Not  indeed  that  they  have  any  recognised  owners  ;  they  are 
the  fourth  estate  of  the  empire,  and  exercise,  so  at  least  it  is 


DOGS  OF  CONSTANTINOPLE.  247 

said,  a  considerable  influence  on  the  sanitary  arrangements 
of  the  capital.  They  have  no  fixed  abode,  at  least  in  the 
eyes  of  the  inhabitants,  but  nevertheless,  among  themselves, 
the  city  is  portioned  out  into  numerous  and  well-defined 
districts,  and  woe  to  the  dog  who  trespasses  on  his  neigh- 
bour's territory  !  His  life,  unless  he  beat  a  speedy  and 
ignominious  retreat,  is  not  worth  five  minutes'  purchase. 
Though  held  in  veneration  by  the  Turks,  they  receive  no 
regular  meals,  and  consequently  are  compelled  to  have 
recourse  occasionally  to  an  extremely  sparse  and  delicate 
diet  I  saw  one  to-day  making  his  midday  meal  off  a  couple 
of  cherries  and  a  rain-puddle. 

"  In  personal  appearance  they  are  between  a  fox  and  a 
wolf;  in  disposition,  easily  roused,  snappish  and  cunning; 
in  taste,  omnivorous.  Their  dismal  concert,  which  takes 
place  every  night,  and  is  never  postponed  by  reason  of  the 
inclemency  of  the  weather  or  the  sore  throats  of  any  mem- 
bers of  the  company,  constitutes  an  effectual  antidote  to 
the  sleep  of  those  whose  notion  of  music  is  not  based  on  the 
growl  and  the  howl." 

The  wild  pariah  dogs  of  India  frequent  the  jungles  and 
the  lower  ranges  of  the  Himalayas  in  numerous  packs,  and 
whenever  there  is  any  fighting  going  on  they  are  sure  not  to 
be  far  off. 

All  the  scavenger  dogs  of  Eastern  cities,  even  the 
mongrels  of  Colombo,  seem  to  a  certain  extent  to  follow  the 
example  of  their  Constantinople  kindred,  and  divide  the 
streets  and  lanes  into  districts.  In  1844  the  dogs  of 
Alexandria  had  become  so  numerous  and  troublesome,  that 
Mehemet  AH  banished  them  in  a  body  to  an  island  at  the 


248 


THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER' ROOM. 


mouth  of  the  Nile  ;  but  no  sooner  were  they  gone  than  their 
place  was  taken  by  a  swarm  of  dogs  from  the  suburbs,  and 
the  nuisance  became  so  much  worse  than  before,  that  the 
banished  dogs  were  recalled  and  very  speedily  put  the 
interlopers  to  flight. 

Under  the  head  of  the  Canida  come  both  the  Jackal  and 
the  Wolf,  the  former  of  which  (Fig.  51),  though  he  waits 

respectfully  for  the 
tiger  to  finish  his 
meal,  stands  in  no 
such  awe  of  the 
vultures,  with  which 
he  will  dispute  the 
remains  of  the 
carcases,  snapping 
at  them  in  defence 
of  his  rights.  It 
is  a  very  bold  ani- 
mal when  pressed 
by  hunger,  and  will 
not  only  follow  the  hunters  and  shamelessly  take  posses- 
sion of  their  game,  but  will  enter  the  streets  of  towns  under 
cover  of  the  night,  eat  the  offal,  and  visit  the  hen-roosts, 
and  even  the  larders,  devouring  everything  it  can  find  in  the 
way  of  provisions,  whether  it  be  carrion  or  only  cooked 
vegetables.  It  has  also  a  taste  for  fruit,  and  a  pack  of  two 
hundred  will  sometimes  pay  an  evening  visit  to  a  vine- 
yard. 

The  Prairie-wolf  will  also  follow  a  hunting  party,  but 
much  more  cautiously  than  the  jackal,  and  so  suspicious  is 


Fig.  51. — JACKALS. 


THE  SCAVENGER  OF  THE  DESERT.  249 

it  that  the  sight  of  a  stick  planted  in  the  ground,  with  a  strip 
of  calico  fluttering  from  the  top  will  be  enough  to  prevent  it 
from  carrying  off  the  dead  game. 

Of  all  scavengers,  none  is  more  horribly  repulsive  in 
appearance  or  more  disgusting  in  its  ways  than  the  hyaena ; 
yet  Mr.  Wood  calls  it  the  "  very  saviour  of  life  and  health  " 
in  Asia  and  Africa,  and  declares  it  to  be  a  libel  on  the 
animal  to  say  that  it  is  incapable  of  being  tamed.  There 
are  several  species,  and  from  the  immense  quantity  of  fossil 
remains,  hyaenas  would  seem  to  have  been  still  more 
numerous  in  former  ages,  and  to  have  been  almost  the  sole 
scavengers  of  the  great  mastodon,  mammoth,  &c. 

With  its  extraordinarily  powerful  teeth  it  does  all  the 
rough  work  of  scavenging  in  the  desert,  in  the  forest,  on  the 
beach,  crushing  with  ease  such  bones  as  would  resist  the 
strength  of  any  other  animal,  and  finishing  up  even  the 
hides  and  other  tough  morsels  left  by  them.  It  has  been 
known  to  drag  a  dead  camel  above  a  mile  from  the  caravan 
in  the  course  of  a  single  night,  but  probably  in  this  case 
two  or  three,  or  perhaps  more,  acted  together. 

When  they  are  too  numerous  to  find  sufficient  carrion 
for  their  support,  they  become  terrible  pests,  hanging  on  the 
outskirts  of  villages  and  encampments,  even  roaming  through 
the  streets  at  night  and  carrying  off  not  only  cattle  but 
sleeping  children. 

It  is  a  very  cowardly  creature,  and  is  afraid  to  touch 
any  animal  unless  it  takes  to  flight,  and  thus  the  sickly  often 
escape  by  standing  still,  while  the  strong  fly  and  perish. 

With  its  horrible  voice,  offensive  odour,  great  personal 
uncleanness  and  cowardice,  together  with  its  habit  of 


250  THE  WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

digging  up  the  dead  and  attacking  domestic  animals  and 
human  beings  where  it  can  do  so  with  safety,  it  is  uni- 
versally detested,  notwithstanding  its  important  services. 

The  Felidce,  or  cats,  great  and  small,  wild  and  domestic, 
may  be  reduced  by  circumstances  to  eat  almost  anything, 
but  since  they  prefer  to  catch  and  kill  their  prey,  they  cannot 
be  considered  as  genuine  scavengers,  though  the  panther 
eats  carrion  when  other  food  is  scarce,  and  the  lion  of 
Algeria  actually  haunts  the  neighbourhood  of  towns,  and 
satisfies  his  hunger  with  the  garbage  of  all  sorts  flung  out- 
side the  walls. 

However,  Nature's  scavengers,  though  they  unquestion- 
ably do  a  vast  amount  of  good,  by  preserving  the  air  from 
pollution  and  ridding  the  earth  of  that  which  is  disgusting  to 
sight  and  scent,  cannot  generally  be  called  perfect.  Some 
are  disgusting  in  themselves,  and  others  do  so  much  mis- 
chief by  their  want  of  discrimination  that  many  people  are 
disposed  to  find  fault  with  them,  and  to  question  their 
title  to  be  looked  upon  as  benefactors  at  all. 

But,  in  the  first  place,  surely  Nature's  workmen  can  be 
fairly  judged  only  where  they  have  to  deal  with  Nature 
alone,  and  are  not  brought  into  contact  with  civilisation ; 
and,  secondly,  if  they  transgress  the  bounds  within  which 
they  are  useful  to  man,  whose  fault  is  that  ? 


251 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

ANIMAL    REMAINS    AND    ANCIENT    DUST-HEAPS. 

Animal  remains  chiefly  Marine — Land  Animals,  how  they  may  be  Buried — 
Places  to  Die  in — Birds  seldom  Buried — Wingless  Birds — Guano-beds — 
Immense  Supply — Coprolites — Rock-oil  from  Animal  Remains — Shell- 
sand,  Fossils,  Casts,  and  Models — The  Mammoth,  "Giant-rat," 
"Grip-claws" — Bones  Preserved  in  Stalagmite — "Kitchen-middens" 
— Cave-dwellers— Shell-heaps — Lake-dwellers. 

SINCE  the  rocks  forming  the  earth's  crust  have  been 
deposited  chiefly  in  salt  water,  as  has  been  shown,  it 
follows  that  the  remains  which  they  enclose  will  be  mainly 
those  of  animals  living  in  or  near  the  sea.  Remains  of 
shells,  corals,  fish-bones,  saurians,  &c.,  are  naturally  abun- 
dant, and  so  are  fish- scales,  a  modern  deposit  of  which 
is  to  be  found  on  the  shore  near  Dundee,  some  ten  yards 
long,  and  two  or  three  feet  thick.  These  are  the  scales  of 
herrings,  which  fall  off  when  the  fishes  are  cleaned,  and, 
being  very  buoyant,  and  comparatively  indestructible,  are 
thrown  up  by  the  waves. 

The  case  of  land  animals  is  altogether  different;  for 
with  the  vast  army  of  hungry  scavengers  always  on  the 
watch,  no  dead  body  is  likely  long  to  escape  being  de- 
voured if  it  remain  exposed,  and  the  circumstances  under 
which  it  is  likely  to  be  buried  and  preserved  are  ex- 
ceptional. Old  land  surfaces  have  occasionally  been 
buried  beneath  sediment,  and  where  this  has  been  the 


252  THE    WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

case  animal  remains  are  abundant.  At  times  they  may 
be  covered  by  the  mud  and  sand  of  inundations,  at  others 
by  the  sand  which  drifts  in  from  the  sea-shore,  and  at 
times  animals  are  overwhelmed  by  landslips,  or  lost,  and 
that  in  considerable  numbers,  in  bogs  and  swamps,  while 
in  limestone  districts  they  fall  into  fissures  or  wander  into 
caverns,  where  their  bones  may  be  covered  with  a  crust 
of  stalagmite. 

Mammal  remains  are  most  abundant  in  the  sites  of 
lakes  into  which  the  animals  were,  no  doubt,  carried  by 
flooded  rivers. 

Sheep  and  cattle  are  often  washed  away  even  in 
England  in  the  spring-time,  and  where  rivers  are  larger 
snowfalls  heavier,  and  changes  of  temperature  more  sudden, 
large  numbers  perish  at  times,  and  may  be  carried  away 
to  lakes,  estuaries,  or  even  the  sea. 

During  the  great  drought  in  the  Pampas  several 
hundred  thousand  animals  rushed  into  the  river  Parana, 
and  perished  from  lack  of  strength  to  crawl  up  the 
muddy  banks  again.  More  than  once  the  carcases  of 
above  a  thousand  wild  horses  were  seen  together,  and,  as 
floods  followed,  large  numbers  of  skeletons  were  probably 
buried  in  mud. 

Many  animals  seem  to  choose  spots  to  which  they 
retire  to  die.  On  the  banks  of  the  Santa  Cruz  there 
are  places  which  are  white  with  the  bones  of  the  guanaco; 
at  St.  Jago  there  is  a  retired  corner,  to  which  the  goats 
betake  themselves;  and  every  one  remembers  the  elephants' 
cemetery  in  Ceylon,  to  which  Sindbad  was  conveyed. 

A  dead  elephant  is  never  seen  in  that  island,  nor  are 


BIRDS  SELDOM  BURIED.  253 

its  tusks  or  any  portion  of  its  skeleton  found.  The  natives 
declare  that  the  herd  bury  their  deceased  companions  if 
these  die  before  reaching  the  solitary  valley  to  which  they 
are  supposed  to  withdraw  on  feeling  the  approach  of  death. 
Every  one  believes  in  the  existence  of  this  valley,  though 
it  is  mysteriously  concealed  from  human  eyes,  and  Sindbad 
recognised  it  at  once,  when,  on  recovering  his  senses  after 
his  alarming  journey,  he  "found,  himself  among  the  bones 
of  elephants,  and  knew  that  this  was  their  burial-place." 

Birds,  having  no  such  burial-places,  and  being  less 
liable  to  be  buried  alive  than  other  animals,  are  less  fre- 
quently found  fossilised.  But  when  flying  near  volcanoes 
in  a  state  of  eruption,  they  have  often  been  observed  to 
drop  down,  killed  by  the  noxious  vapours,  and  if  buried  in 
fine  volcanic  ashes  not  only  their  bones,  but  the  form 
of  their  bodies,  would  be  preserved.  Moreover,  they 
sometimes  fall  into  lakes  when  chased  by  hawks,  and 
those  which  build  near  water  are  sometimes  surprised 
and  swept  away  by  a  flood,  and  in  these  cases,  if  they  do 
not  float  long  enough  to  be  devoured,  which,  being  very 
light,  they  probably  do,  they  may  chance  to  sink,  and 
be  buried  in  mud. 

The  chief  remains  of  ancient  birds  are  those  of  the 
large  wingless  kinds,  whose  bones  were  filled  with  marrow, 
instead  of  air,  which  made  their  bodies  considerably  heavier, 
and  more  likely  to  sink,  while  their  want  of  wings  put 
them  on  a  level  with  other  animals. 

The  most  extensive  accumulations  of  organic  matter 
due  to  birds  are,  however,  the  great  guano  beds  of  Peru, 
Bolivia,  Africa,  &c.  Three-fifths  of  the  guano  is  soluble, 


254  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

so  that  one  year  of  English  weather  would  be  enough  to 
wash  away  many  of  the  deposits  entirely  ;  and  on  the  west 
coast  of  South  America  there  is — owing  to  rain — no  guano 
worth  mentioning,  except  between  latitude  13°  N.  and 
21°  S.,  while  the  locality  in  which  it  is  most  plentiful  and 
most  valuable  is  the  rainless  region  of  South  Peru. 

It  is  only  recently  that  Europeans  have  learnt  the  value 
of  guano,  but  under  the  Incas  the  birds  were  strictly  pre- 
served ;  landing  on  the  islands  during  the  breeding  season 
was  forbidden  on  pain  of  death,  and  overseers  were  ap- 
pointed to  give  their  proper  share  of  the  valuable  commo- 
dity to  each  claimant  at  the  right  time. 

In  the  Cincha  Islands,  off  Peru,  the  beds  are  two  hun- 
dred feet  thick,  and  the  supply  is  almost  inexhaustible.  In 
addition  to  the  droppings  of  countless  sea-birds  which  have 
resorted  to  these  spots  for  centuries  past,  the  guano  is  also 
partly  composed  of  the  skeletons  and  eggs  of  birds,  and  the 
bodies  and  bones  of  fishes  and  seals.  It  has  undergone 
much  alteration  by  internal  chemical  changes,  and  emits  a 
strong  smell  of  ammonia ;  and  since  it  consists  chiefly  of 
phosphate  of  lime  with  soda,  magnesia,  and  sulphur,  it  is  a 
powerful  fertiliser,  and  enables  even  the  sandy  desert  around 
Lima  to  bear  crops  of  maize. 

Osite  or  Sombrero  guano  is  brought  from  a  small  island 
in  the  West  Indies,  which  is  entirely  composed  of  the  bones 
of  turtles  and  other  marine  animals,  together  with  coral 
sand,  &c.,  which  have  been  cemented  into  a  compact  mass 
by  the  droppings  of  birds. 

A  magnificent  crimson,  called  murexide,  has  been  obtained 
from  guano,  while  a  fine  purple  has  been  found  in  the  copros 


COPROLITE  BEDS.  255 

of  serpents.  The  latter  substance,  which  is  very  like  plaster 
of  Paris,  was,  and  maybe  still  is,  bought  up  at  the  rate  of 
nine  shillings  a  pound  from  the  Zoological  Society  by  a 
"  doctor,"  or,  perhaps,  chemist.  What  he  did  with  it  was  a 
mystery  to  most  people,  but  no  doubt  he  made  the  pur- 
purate  of  ammonia  from  it. 

The  well-known  fossils  called  "  coprolites,"  consist 
chiefly  of  phosphate  of  lime,  and  received  their  name 
because  they  were  supposed  to  be  the  fossilised  droppings 
of  huge  saurians,  or  lizards,  and  other  animals ;  but  though 
some  are  no  doubt  true  coprolites,  and  all  evidently  result 
from  the  decay  of  animal  matter,  they  have  generally  lost  all 
trace  of  organic  origin,  and  are  simply  nodules  of  bone- 
earth,  which  when  ground,  or  otherwise  prepared,  make  a 
valuable  manure.  They  are  found  in  large  quantities  in  the 
Suffolk  Crag  along  with  the  bones  and  teeth  of  whales,  &c., 
and  are  washed  up  in  such  abundance  on  the  beach  that 
people  are  constantly  engaged  in  collecting  them. 

The  beds  vary  from  a  few  inches  to  several  feet  in  thick- 
ness, and  are  found  in  Norway,  the  West  Indies,  Spain,  and 
South  Carolina,  but  were  first  dug  in  Cambridgeshire, 
where  Dr.  Henslow  at  once  pronounced  them  to  be  "  bone- 
earth,  which,"  he  said,  "  we  are  at  our  wits'  end  to  get  for 
our  grain  and  pulse,  and  are  importing  as  expensive  bones 
from  Buenos  Ayres." 

All  animal  matter  contains  a  large  proportion  of  carbon  ; 
and,  as  has  been  already  mentioned,  it  seems  probable  that 
many  deposits  of  rock-oil  are  derived  from  the  remains  of 
fishes,  mollusks,  Crustacea,  and  the  other  minuter  forms  of 
animal  life,  of  which  many  shales,  limestones,  &c.,  are 


256  THE   WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

largely  composed.  The  silicious  flags  of  Caithness,  for 
instance,  are  impregnated  with  oily  matter  which  is 
apparently  due  to  the  innumerable  fishes  embedded  in 
them. 

Shells  and  the  like  are  some  of  the  most  indestructible 
of  animal  remains ;  but  having  already  spoken  of  the  vast 
accumulations  of  chalk  and  lime  to  which  they  have  given 
rise,  we  need  only  add  that  the  soft  earthy  carbonate  of 
lime  called  "marl,"  which  is  formed  of  freshwater  shells  and 
occurs  in  layers  and  patches  from  one  to  several  feet  thick 
in  bogs  and  old  lake  sites,  was  at  one  time  dug  or  dredged 
up  as  manure  for  the  pastures. 

The  importance  of  lime — and  especially  phosphate  of 
lime — to  many  crops  may  be  seen  by  a  glance  at  the  mineral 
composition  of  their  ash. 

Thus  the  ash  of  meadow  hay  contains  1 1  *6  per  cent,  of 
lime  and  6-2  of  phosphorus ;  that  of  winter  wheat  4*9  of 
lime  and  7-4  of  phosphorus  ;  and  that  of  red  clover  has  34*0 
per  cent,  of  lime  and  9  '9  of  phosphorus. 

"  Shell  sand  "  (consisting  of  shelly,  coralline,  and  other 
limy  debris)  is  often  applied  to  clay  soils,  especially  tjy  the 
French,  who  value  it  highly;  and  though  100,000  tons  are 
taken  every  year  from  Padstow  Harbour,  it  is  so  abundant 
that  much  more  might  be  used. 

The  name  of  "fossil"  is  given  to  all  organic  bodies, 
animal  or  vegetable,  which  have  been  naturally  buried  and 
more  or  less  petrified  or  turned  to  stone. 

Many  fossil  shells  are,  however,  scarcely  at  all  altered,  and 
some  even  of  the  more  ancient  still  retain  not  only  their 
mother-of-pearl,  but  even  their  colouring.  In  others  again, 


CASTS  OF  SHELLS.  257 

as  the  animal  matter  or  gelatine  decayed,  water  containing 
some  dissolved  mineral  has  filtered  in  and  filled  up  all  the 
interstices,  it  may  be  with  silica,  or  it  may  be  with  some 
metal,  and  the  shell  is  thus  more  or  less  mineralised. 

Very  often  when  the  mud  in  which  a  shell  has  been 
buried  has  become  hard,  the  shell  itself  has  been  dissolved 
away,  and  all  that  remains  of  it  is  a  cast  of  the  interior  in 
hardened  mud  or  stone,  and  an  impression  of  the  exterior, 
with  an  empty  space  between  the  two.  This  empty  space 
is  again  often  filled  with  mineral  matter,  so  that  we  have  a 
perfect  cast  of  the  whole  shell  inside  and  out. 

The  beds  known  as  greensands  are,  it  is  said,  largely 
composed  of  the  minute  internal  casts  of  foraminifera 
(Fig.  28),  whose  tiny  shells,  before  they  dissolved  away,  were 
filled  with  silicate  of  iron  and  potash. 

About  two-thirds  of  a  bone  consists  of  the  earthy  matter 
(phosphate,  carbonate,  &c.)  already  mentioned ;  the  re- 
maining third  is  animal  matter,  a  sort  of  gelatine,  and  as 
this  decays,  mineral  matter  may  filter  in,  and  the  bone 
become  petrified  or  mineralised.  Both  animal  and  vege- 
table substances  may  be  mineralised  to  a  certain  extent  in  a 
few  weeks,  or  even  days,  when  steeped  in  mineral  water. 

Occidental  turquoise  seems  to  be  nothing  more  than 
fossil  bone  or  ivory,  coloured  by  the  infiltration  of  phosphate 
of  iron,  while  the  true  turquoise,  which  it  resembles,  but 
does  not  equal,  consists  of  phosphate  of  alumina  coloured 
by  copper. 

But  there  is  another  and  more  wonderful  method  of 
petrifaction  which  is  by  no  means  uncommon,  to  which  we 
have  alluded  in  Chapter  XII.  In  this  the  shell,  bone,  or  tree 


258  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

trunk  is  neither  mineralised  by  infiltration,  nor  merely  repre- 
sented by  a  cast,  but  the  whole  of  its  organisation  is  faith- 
fully reproduced.  A  cast  may  give  one  a  perfect  idea  of  the 
appearance  of  any  object,  as  seen  from  within  or  from  without, 
but  cannot  show  its  structure  ;  whereas  a  model,  which  is 
what  this  sort  of  petrifaction  produces,  is  an  exact  imitation. 
Each  atom  of  the  original  substance  is  replaced  by  an  atom 
of  some  other  mineral.  The  most  common  replacement  is 
that  in  which  silica  is  substituted  for  lime,  the  former  being, 
as  we  have  seen,  especially  attracted  by  decaying  matter. 
Strictly  speaking,  these  fossils  are  not  therefore  organic  re- 
mains, but  perfect  models  of  such  remains. 

Some  few  extinct  animals  are  represented,  however,  by 
more  than  fossils,  and  more  even  than  bones.  Early  in  the 
present  century,  the  first  mammoth,  still  covered  with  flesh, 
hair,  and  wool,  was  discovered  in  the  ice  by  a  Siberian 
fisherman,  who  possessed  himself  of  its  two  great  ivory 
tusks,  which  he  sold  for  fifty  roubles,  and  left  the  carcass 
for  the  white  bears  and  dogs  to  feast  upon.  Two  years 
later,  in  1805,  the  skeleton  was  still  almost  entire.  The 
animal  measured  sixteen  feet  in  length  and  nine  in  height, 
and  from  the  long,  stiff,  black  bristles  and  coarse  red-brown 
hair  and  wool  still  remaining,  it  was  evident  that  it  was  a 
species  of  elephant  fitted  to  live  in  cold  regions. 

Long  before  it  attracted  the  notice  of  naturalists,  the 
mammoth  had  been  known  to  the  Siberian  Ostyaks,  who 
were  so  accustomed  to  finding  the  carcases  buried  and 
preserved  in  the  frozen  ground,  that  they  firmly  believed 
that  the  creatures  lived  there,  and  only  died  when  they  smelt 
the  air.  Its  long  curved  tusks  they  considered  to  be  movable 


THE  MAMMOTH,  259 

horns  with  which  it  dug  its  way  through  clay  and  mud. 
The  Chinese  knew  it  in  very  early  times  as  the  "  Tien-shu," 
or  "giant  rat,"  "a  stupid,  inert  animal,  which,"  they  said, 
u  avoids  the  light  and  lives  in  dark  holes ; "  and  some  of 
their  learned  men  thought  these  "  earth  rats  "  might  be  the 
cause  of  earthquakes,  which  they  could  not  otherwise  satis- 
factorily account  for. 

Even  late  in  the  seventeenth  century,  Father  Avril,  when 
travelling  in  Russia,  was  told  that  the  ivory  he  saw  was 
procured  by  men  who  ventured  their  lives  in  attacking  the 
creature  which  produced  it,  which  was  as  big  and  as  dan- 
gerous as  a  crocodile. 

The  Arabs  seem  to  have  been  the  first  to  develop  the 
trade  in  fossil  ivory,  and  from  the  corruption  of  their  word 
"  behemoth  "  we  get  "  mammoth." 

Immense  quantities  of  the  bones  and  horns  of  the  fossil 
rhinoceros  are  also  thrown  up  on  the  shores  of  the  Polar 
Sea,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  Siberian  tundras,  pr 
swamps,  believe  them  to  be  parts  of  a  colossal  bird  with 
which  they  declare  that  sundry  persons  have  had  terrific 
fights.* 

The  "  claw  of  a  griffon  "  was  presented  to  Charlemagne, 
and  the  Russian  merchants  to  this  day  never  call  the  sword- 
shaped  horns  of  the  rhinoceros  anything  but  "  grip-claws." 
As  gold  sand  is  found  in  some  places  where  these  "  claws  " 
are  buried,  it  is  probable  that  the  expression  "  taking  gold 
from  under  the  griffons,"  had  its  origin  in  this  notion  of  the 

*  The  vast  region  of  the  tundras  extends  from  64°  N.  lat.  northwards  to 
the  coast.  For  nine  months  of  the  year  it  is  covered  with  ice  ;  in  the 
summer  it  is  a  swamp,  producing  nothing  but  moss. 


260  THE    WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

gigantic  bird,  which  also  may  have  been  the  ancestor  of  the 
gold-guarding  dragons  of  fairy  lore. 

Nowhere  are  the  remains  of  both  mammoth  and 
rhinoceros  more  plentiful  than  in  the  lowlands  adjoining 
the  Icy  Sea.  Multitudes  are  buried  between  the  Lena  and 
Kolimar,  and  one  of  the  New  Siberian  islands  is  little  more 
than  a  mass  of  mammoth  bones,  which  have  been  worked 
for  many  years  by  the  traders.  One  single  sandbank  has 
furnished  the  best  harvest  of  tusks  for  eighty  years  past, 
and,  in  1844,  Siberian  ivory,  to  the  amount  of  16,000  Ibs., 
was  sold  in  St.  Petersburg.  At  least  one  hundred  pairs  of 
tusks  are  still  sent  to  the  market  every  year. 

Many  limestone  caves  contain  large  quantities  of 
animal  remains ;  but  stalagmite  is  not  such  a  good  preserver 
as  ice,  and  nothing  is  left  but  bones,  most  of  which  are 
broken,  rubbed,  rolled,  or  polished,  as  if  they  had  been 
carried  long  distances  by  water. 

Often,  no  doubt,  the  animals  were  surprised  by  sudden 
torrents,  carried  into  the  caves,  and  buried  in  mud,  over 
which  a  crust  of  stalagmite  afterwards  was  formed  ;  but  often 
also  they  lived  and  died  on  the  spot  where  their  remains 
are  found. 

At  least  300  hyaenas  of  different  ages  were  buried  in  the 
Kirkdale  cavern  in  Yorkshire,  which  contains  also  the  bones 
of  wolves,  bears,  birds,  &c.,  and  as  all  the  latter  are  gnawed, 
while  the  former  are  not,  we  may  conclude  that  the  cave 
was  once  the  home  of  many  generations  of  hyaenas,  and  that 
the  other  animals  were  only  dragged  there  to  be  devoured. 

In  other  caves,  the  bones  of  hundreds  of  cave-bears, 
wolves,  lions,  tigers,  as  well  as  of  the  mammoth,  have  been 


262  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

similarly  preserved  in  stalagmite  to  tell  us  something  about 
the  animal  population  of  Europe  in  past  ages. 

Other  caves  are,  however,  even  more  interesting  than  these, 
since  they  contain  the  "  dust-heaps  "  or  "  kitchen-middens  " 
(Fig.  52),  not  of  animals,  but  of  men.  The  cave  at  Carriga- 
gower,  in  the  county  of  Cork,  for  instance,  shows  us  that  it 
was  inhabited  in  ancient  times  by  people  who  lived  to  a 
large  extent  on  beef,  mutton,  and  pork,  but  had  no  more 
idea  than  the  hyaenas  of  keeping  their  dust-heaps  outside 
their  houses. 

They  ate  their  food  and  threw  the  bones  down  on  the 
mud  floor,  perhaps  for  their  cats  and  dogs,  whose  remains 
are  also  found,  and  they  stabled  their  horses  in  the  cave 
with  themselves.  Sometimes  they  caught  hares  and  rabbits, 
and  they  fed  largely  upon  mollusks,  especially  limpets, 
periwinkles,  and  garden  snails,  whose  shells  are  found  in 
great  numbers.  The  earlier  inhabitants  of  the  cave  had 
stones  for  hammers  and  flint  flakes  for  knives,  but  they 
were  followed  by  others  who  were  more  civilised  and 
possessed  iron  knives,  an  iron  chisel,  and  a  nail,  and  must 
have  cultivated  some  sort  of  grain,  since  the  upper  stone  of 
a  quern  or  hand-mill  has  been  discovered. 

In  Denmark  there  are  old  dust-heaps  from  three  to 
ten  feet  high,  and  from  100  to  i.ooo  feet  long,  which 
contain  implements  of  stone,  horn,  bone,  and  wood,  frag- 
ments of  rude  pottery,  charcoal,  cinders,  and  the  bones  of 
many  animals,  some  of  which,  such  as  the  beaver,  do  not 
now  live  there. 

On  the  coast  of  Peru,  and  a  few  miles  inland,  there  are 
shell-heaps  more  than  180  feet  high  and  above  300  in 


SHELL-HEAPS  AND  LAKE-DWELLERS.  263 

diameter,  which  have  been  preserved  from  decay  partly  by 
the  growth  of  vegetation,  and  partly  by  a  thick  crust  of 
carbonate  of  lime  which  has  been  formed  on  the  surface  by 
the  action  of  the  rain. 

These  great  heaps  contain  charcoal,  ashes,  stones 
blackened  by  fire,  the  bones  of  fishes  and  birds,  especially 
parrots,  splintered  human  bones  and  stone  axes,  and  are 
evidently  the  refuse  remains  of  countless  savage  banquets. 

Similar  shell-heaps  are  found  everywhere  in  the  Fiji 
islands  ;  others,  which  are  probably  relics  of  the  Bushmen, 
occur  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  and  contain  limpets  so 
large  as  to  be  good  drinking-cups.  In  Australia  the  shell 
mounds  left  by  the  natives  are  so  large  and  numerous  that 
white  men  have  worked  all  their  lives  at  sifting  out  the 
undecomposed  shells  to  be  burnt  for  lime. 

Crows,  and  even  vultures,  do  something  towards  raising 
heaps  of  shells  ;  above  a  hundred  of  the  former  have  been 
seen  together  feeding  on  mussels,  and  Mr.  Barrow  says  that 
on  one  occasion,  in  a  cavern  at  the  point  of  Mussel  Bay,  he 
disturbed  thousands  of  birds,  and  saw  heaps  of  empty  shells 
enough  to  fill  some  thousands  of  waggons. 

The  ancient  races  inhabiting  the  pile-dwellings,  whose 
remains  were  first  discovered  about  thirty  years  ago  in  some 
of  the  Swiss  lakes,  instead  of  piling  their  rubbish  around 
them,  which  would  have  been  inconvenient,  threw  it  into 
the  water,  where  enough  has  been  preserved  in  the  mud  to 
give  us  a  tolerably  good  idea  of  their  manner  of  life.  Piles 
were  driven  into  the  bed  of  the  lake  and  connected  by 
timbers,  and  upon  this  common  platform  each  family  had 
its  own  hut,  with  a  trap-door  in  the  floor  for  the  convenience 


THE  BRONZE  PERIOD.  265 

of  fishing,  and  no  doubt  also  for  getting  rid  of  their 
rubbish  (Fig.  53). 

There  must  have  been  a  large  settlement  on  the  Lake 
of  Geneva,  for  the  piles  extend  1,200  feet  along  the  shore, 
and  150  feet  into  the  lake.  Many  other  colonies  must  have 
been  of  considerable  size,  for  thousands  of  piles  are  found 
still  firmly  fixed  in  the  mud,  and  at  Wangen,  on  Lake 
Constance,  more  than  1,300  articles  of  stone,  bone,  and 
pottery  have  been  recovered. 

The  huts  were  made  of  twigs,  woven  together  and 
plastered  inside  with  clay,  and  the  inhabitants  had  not  only 
abundance  of  fishes,  but  the  flesh  of  stags,  goats,  wild  boars, 
and  foxes,  which  last  they  seem  to  have  eaten  in  great 
quantities,  to  judge  from  the  number  of  bones. 

The  earliest  lake-dwellers  had  none  but  stone  imple- 
ments, and  were  contemporary  with  the  elephant  and 
rhinoceros.  Somewhat  later  we  find  that  deer,  wild  boars, 
and  wild  oxen,  were  still  abundant;  and  later  still,  a  generation 
rose  up  which  had  learnt  the  use  of  metal,  for  their  tools 
and  implements  were  made  of  bronze,  which  is  a  mixture  of 
copper  and  tin.  As  tin  was  from  the  very  earliest  times 
brought  chiefly  from  Cornwall,  we  must  conclude  that  the 
people  of  the  Bronze  Period  had  some  indirect  dealings  with 
the  inhabitants  of  Great  Britain,  and,  therefore,  knew  some- 
thing of  trade.  Their  pottery  is  much  finer  in  texture  and 
more  elegant  in  shape  than  that  of  their  predecessors,  and 
they  had  made  other  advances  towards  civilisation,  having 
learnt  to  keep  domestic  animals,  to  eat  beef,  pork,  and 
goat's  flesh,  to  cultivate  wheat  and  barley,  and  to  weave 
cloth  of  flax  and  straw.  They  even  wore  necklaces,  brace- 


266  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

lets,  hair-pins,  and  "  safety-pins  "  (Fig.  54),  and  they  made 
a  kind  of  bread  of  the  "whole-meal"  or  rather  "whole-grain" 
variety,  the  grains  being  roasted,  slightly  ground,  and  merely 
pressed  into  lumps. 

From  the  seeds  and  stones  yet  remaining,  we  find  that 
they  had  plums,  raspberries,  and  apples  ;  and  they  also  had 
hazel  and  beech  nuts,  whose  shells,  with  all  their  other 
refuse,  they  threw  into  the  water,  never  dreaming  that  cen- 
turies and  even  thousands  of  years  after  they  themselves 
were  gone,  it  would  be  brought  to  light  and  examined  with 
the  deepest  interest  by  the  learned  men  of  a  new  era. 


Fig.  54.— IRON  "SAFETY  PIN"  FOUND  IN  LAKE  NEUCHATEL. 


267 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

HOUSEHOLD      REFUSE. 

Scavenging  in  the  East ;  Chi/onniers  ;  Different  Classes  ;  Their  Dwellings  ; 
Hard  Work  and  Honesty— Annual  Sale  at  the  Tuileries— Old  Clothes, 
many  Vicissitudes,  what  Becomes  of  Them — Old  Uniforms ;  Old 
Hats;  Rags— Woollen  Rags— Various  Materials  used  in  Paper 
making — Waste  -  paper  —  Papier-machd  —  "  Hard  and  Soft  Core  "  ; 
Dust-sifting  —  Old  Boots  and  Shoes,  and  "Jamaica  Rum  "—Broken 
Glass — Bones — Manure;  "Bone-meal";  Bone-black — Old  Pots  and 
Pans — Broken  Meat. 

NATURE'S  scavengers  are  not  perfect,  but  the  result 
of  their  labours  on  the  whole  is,  that,  where  Nature 
is  left  to  herself,  not  only  is  nothing  wasted,  but  refuse  of 
all  kinds  is  so  speedily  disposed  of  that  we  seldom  come 
across  anything  to  disgust  either  sight  or  sense  of  smell. 
Where  man  comes  on  the  scene,  indeed,  the  case  is  dif- 
ferent ;  but  Nature  can  no  more  be  expected  to  dispose  of 
his  refuse  for  him  than  to  feed  and  clothe  him,  and  pro- 
vide for  his  other  wants,  though  he  oftentimes  leaves  a 
great  deal  to  her,  and  owes  her,  as  Miss  Staveley  reminds 
us,  always  far  more  than  he  is  generally  aware  of. 

Certainly,  in  the  matter  of  scavenging,  man  does  not 
compare  favourably  with  Nature,  for  she  knows  nothing  of 
the  accumulations  of  filth  and  rubbish  with  which  he  is 
puzzled  to  deal ;  and,  after  watching  her  labourers  at  their 
work,  it  is  rather  humiliating  to  glance  at  a  dust-yard  and  be 


268  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

compelled  to  own,  as  one  must,  that  she  manages  matters 
in  a  much  neater  and  altogether  less  offensive  way  than 
we  do. 

Throughout  the  East,  scavenging,  even  in  the  towns 
and  villages,  is  left  chiefly  to  her  good  offices,  as  we  have 
seen,  and  many  a  village  on  the  hills  about  the  Bosphorus 
owes  such  cleanliness  as  it  possesses  to  the  occasional 
heavy  falls  of  rain. 

In  Ceylon,  the  Chandalas,  who  belonged  to  the  lowest 
caste,  were  degraded  to  the  office  of  scavengers  and  carriers 
of  corpses ;  and  in  the  legends  of  Buddha,  the  chandala  is 
represented  as  "  one  born  in  the  open  air,  his  parents  not 
being  possessed  of  a  roof;  he  lies  among  the  pots  when  his 
mother  goes  to  cut  firewood,"  and,  says  Manu,  "  he  can 
never  be  relieved  from  bondage  or  emancipated  by  a  master." 
In  437  B.C.  the  nichi-chanddlas  are  specially  named  as 
"  cemetery-men ; "  but  a  couple  of  centuries  later  cremation 
had  been  introduced,  and  their  services  were  no  longer  re- 
quired in  the  cemeteries. 

Not  very  much  above  the  chandala  in  the  social  scale, 
come  the  Paris  chiffonniers,  who  form  a  class  as  much  apart 
from  the  rest  of  the  community  as  if  they  were  separated  by 
the  laws  of  caste.  The  chiffonnier,  or  "  ragman,"  no  more 
confines  his  attention  exclusively  to  "  rags  "  than  the  dustman 
does  to  genuine  "  dust."  He  is  a  by  no  means  romantic  or 
attractive-looking  individual,  and  it  is  difficult  at  first  sight 
to  understand  why  he  should  be  such  a  favourite  character 
with  French  novelists,  and  how  he  acquired  the  halo  of  ro- 
mance which  surrounds  him  at  the  present  day.  According 
to  the  popular  legend,  every  chiffonnier  is  a  nobleman,  or 


PARIS  CHIFFONNIERS.  269 

at  least  a  gentleman,  in  disguise,  or  perhaps  a  learned  pro- 
fessor who  has  met  with  reverses,  or  has  other  reasons  for 
shunning  the  society  of  his  equals. 

But  the  chiffonnier  would  never  have  held  this  position 
in  the  public  imagination  had  he,  like  the  dustman,  pur- 
sued his  unsavoury  occupation  in  broad  daylight.  It  is 
his  little  dark  lantern,  and  the  fact  that  he  does  not  emerge 
from  his  place  of  retirement  until  nightfall,  which  have 
combined  to  make  him  such  an  object  of  mystery  and 
interest. 

Like  his  Italian  brother,  and  like  most  of  the  scavengers 
employed  by  Nature,  he  appears  with  the  owls  and  bats, 
prowls  about  in  the  deserted,  silent  streets  at  the  most 
unearthly  hours,  and  when  the  sun  rises  he  vanishes  into 
his  own  quarter  of  the  city,  and  is  seen  no  more  till  night 
returns  again. 

We,  who  are  accustomed  to  seeing  the  dust-carts  on 
their  daily  rounds,  may  well  wonder  what  the  chiffonnier 
can  find  in  the  streets  to  fill  his  wicker-basket,  and  our 
wonder  will  increase  when  we  learn  that,  according  to  the 
official  returns,  7,050  men  and  women  make  their  living 
in  this  way  in  Paris,  and  earn,  some  of  them,  as  much  as 
three  francs  a  day. 

The  fact  is,  that  as  regards  its  scavenging,  the  elegant 
city  of  Paris  has  not  hitherto  been  much  in  advance  of 
Constantinople  or  Cairo.  All  the  dust  and  refuse  of  the 
houses  was  simply  thrown  out  into  the  street,*  where  the 
chiffonnier  rummaged  in  it  at  his  leisure  with  an  iron  hook, 
or  a  stick  having  a  crooked  nail  at  the  end,  carrying  off 

*  This  was  also  the  case  in  Rome  until  of  late  years. 


270  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

all  that  he  could  in  any  way  turn  to  account,  and  leaving 
only  the  refuse  of  the  refuse  to  be  cleared  away  by  the 
carts,  or  devoured  by  rats,  hundreds  of  which  may  be  seen 
running  about  the  streets  in  all  directions  late  at  night. 
Of  late,  however,  he  has  been  thrown  into  great  consterna- 
tion by  an  order  from  the  Prefect  of  the  city,  who  considers 
that  it  would  be  more  conducive  to  health  and  cleanliness 
if  the  "  dust "  of  each  house  were  collected  in  some  recep- 
tacle, and  put  outside  in  the  morning  to  be  emptied  into 
the  dust-carts  when  they  make  their  rounds.  This  plan 
is  followed  in  Boulogne,  and  several  British  towns,  and  has 
great  advantages  over  the  system  of  dust-bins,  since  the 
refuse  is  removed  daily,  before  it  has  time  to  decay  and 
become  injurious  ;  and  as  the  dustmen  have  merely  to 
empty  the  tub  or  box,  the  "  dust "  of  a  whole  street  can 
be  carried  away  in  the  time  which  it  now  takes  them  to 
empty  a  few  dust-bins. 

However,  Paris  has  raised  a  great  outcry  against  the 
new  regulation ;  for,  reasonable  as  it  is,  it  means  little 
less  than  ruin  to  the  poor  chtffonnier.  When  the  "dust" 
is  simply  thrown  into  the  street  he  can  poke  about 
in  it  easily,  and  soon  pick  out  all  that  he  cares  to 
take ;  but  if  it  were  all  collected  in  a  deep  tub,  or 
such  like  receptacle,  it  would  be  long  before  he  could 
ascertain  what  treasures  might  be  hidden  in  its  depths, 
and  could  make  sure  that  he  was  not  leaving  any- 
thing valuable  behind ;  and  then,  worse  than  all,  the 
time  for  making  these  minute  investigations  would  not 
be  allowed  him,  for  the  "  dust "  would  not  be  put  out 
of  the  houses  until  the  morning,  and  the  carts  would  come 


BONES  AND  RAGS.  271 

and  take  it  away  before  he  had  even  a  chance  of  com- 
pleting his  search.  The  chiffonnier's  principal  treasures  are 
bones,  rags,  paper,  scraps  of  copper,  sardine  cases  and 
other  tins,  and  broken  glass ;  and  of  these,  two  hundred- 
weights (about  one  hundred  kilos)  of  bones  bring  him 
four  francs;  the  same  weight  of  paper  from  one  to  five 
francs,  according  to  the  quality;  woollen  rags,  forty  francs; 
copper,  eighty  francs;  tins,  thr.ee  francs;  white  glass,  six 
francs ;  and  green  bottle-glass,  one  franc  twenty  centimes, 
or  about  a  shilling.*  Cigar  ends  are  also  carefully  col- 
lected, and  converted  into  Re'gie  cigarettes. 

Money,  jewellery,  and  the  like,  he  is  expected  to  give 
up  to  the  concierge,  or  porter,  of  the  house  opposite  which 
he  has  found  it,  and  he  bears  a  high  character  for  honesty 
in  this  respect.  The  sardine  and  other  tins,  of  which  such 
thousands  are  thrown  away,  go  to  support  a  branch  of 
industry  which  is  deeply  interesting  to  the  youthful  part 
of  the  population ;  for,  after  being  stamped  into  shape 
by  machines  of  simple  construction,  they  reappear  in  the 
form  of  countless  armies  of  tin  soldiers,  which  are  sold 
at  prices  so  low  that  the  manufacturer  could  not  possibly 
afford  to  buy  his  raw  material  new  from  the  tinman. 

Rag-picking  is  a  calling  which  any  one  is  free  to 
pursue,  but  still  the  fraternity  have  their  rules  and  regu- 
lations, and  are  divided  into  well-marked  ranks.  Lowest 
of  all  are  the  biffins^  or  chineurs,  who  are  half  desperadoes 
and  half  amateurs,  people  who  are  something  else  by  day, 
and  go  out  fortune-seeking  in  a  random,  irregular  way  at 
night.  They  are  not  in  favour  with  the  other  chiffbnniers, 
*  A  franc  is  worth  9^d.  of  English  money. 


272  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

for  they  either  do  not  know  or  do  not  respect  the  customs 
of  the  society,  and  being  apt  to  encroach  on  other  people's 
rights,  are  looked  upon  as  bunglers  and  dabblers,  a  "  dis- 
turbing element,"  in  fact,  calculated  to  throw  the  well- 
regulated  machinery  of  the  body  out  of  gear. 

The  rouleurs  are  more  respectable  than  these,  and  have 
each  their  own  particular  districts,  in  which  they  make  their 
rounds  ;  they  do  not  trespass  on  their  neighbours'  property, 
and  expect  to  have  their  own  hunting-grounds  treated  with 
equal  respect. 

The  placiers  occupy  the  highest  rank  of  all,  and,  as 
the  aristocrats  of  the  brotherhood,  have  the  privilege  of 
overhauling  the  "dust"  before  it  is  turned  out  into  the 
street.  The  concierge,  who  knows  them  well,  and  treats 
them  with  benevolent  condescension,  allows  them  even  to 
come  into  the  house  and  pick  the  dust  over  undisturbed. 
A  placier  will  visit  from  ten  to  thirty  houses  in  this  way ; 
and  in  return  for  the  indulgence  shown  him  will  fetch 
water,  or  do  any  other  little  service  for  the  concierge.  His 
place  is  worth  something  in  a  wealthy  neighbourhood,  and 
when  he  retires  from  the  business  he  sells  it  to  his  suc- 
cessor, who  makes  his  first  appearance  with  him  one 
Sunday  morning  in  a  tidy  suit  of  clothes,  and  is  formally 
introduced  to  all  the  concierges  on  his  beat,  and  is  recom- 
mended to  their  kind  consideration.  It  is  said  that  some 
placiers  have  paid  as  much  as  1,000  francs  for  their 
business. 

Besides  the  chiffonniers  of  these  three  classes,  there 
are,  above  them  again,  the  contractors,  who  buy  the 
refuse  of  them,  have  it  sorted  by  day-labourers,  and  then 


HOMES  OF  THE  "  CHIFFONNIERS"  273 

sell  it  again  in  large  quantities.  There  are  about  a  hundred 
such  contractors  in  Paris,  and  of  these  four  or  five  turn 
over  millions  of  francs  in  the  course  of  the  year.  Many  are 
very  wealthy,  and  all  soon  become  well-to-do. 

There  is  a  certain  M.  Berton  who  has  made  himself  con- 
spicuous in  the  Paris  elections  since  1868,  by  offering  him- 
self as  a  candidate,  printing  his  addresses  on  rose-coloured 
paper,  and  promising  prosperity  to  mankind  in  general,  and 
the  Parisians  in  particular,  if  only  they  will  give  him  a  seat 
in  the  Chamber  of  Deputies  or  on  the  Municipal  Council. 
This  gentleman  was  for  twenty  years  a  dust-contractor,  and 
retired  from  the  business  when  still  comparatively  young 
with  a  yearly  income  of  60,000  francs  (^2,040),  earned  for 
him  by  the  rouleurs  and  placiers. 

The  chiffonniers  live  in  certain  streets,  which  are  occu- 
pied by  members  of  the  fraternity  only.  The  best  known 
of  these  is  the  Rue  Mouffetard,  on  the  left  bank  of  the 
Seine;  but  there  are  also  large  colonies  at  Montrouge, 
Montmartre,  and  La  Villette,  and  everywhere  their  habita- 
tions look  more  like  gipsy  camps  than  anything  else.  Their 
huts  are  built  of  the  most  extraordinary  materials,  the 
walls  being  either  of  kneaded  mud,  or,  like  those  of  the 
ancient  Lake-dwellers,  of  wattle,  filled  in  with  clay.  A 
carriage-wheel  often  does  duty  for  a  window,  the  spaces 
between  the  spokes  being  covered  with  oiled  paper,  and 
the  roof  consists  of  tarpaulin,  or,  at  best,  of  pieces  of 
roofing-paper  patched  together.  Some  few  buildings  are 
constructed  of  brick,  gypsum,  or  wooden  spars ;  but  these 
are  owned  only  by  the  very  prosperous.  Great  cleanliness 
is,  of  course,  out  of  the  question,  considering  the  nature 
s 


274  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

of  the  goods  which  are  piled  up  in  and  around  the  huts 
until  they  are  sold ;  but  the  chiffonnier  is  personally  less 
dirty  than  might  be  expected,  and  his  health  is  as  good 
as  that  of  other  poor  people. 

Most  of  the  fraternity  have  been  chiffonniers  all  their 
lives,  for  the  calling  is  hereditary  in  certain  families,  and 
has  been  so  for  so  many  generations  that  the  chiffonniers 
form  a  distinct  caste,  speaking,  as  Mr.  Simmonds  says,  not 
a  word  of  real  French. 

They  have  to  work  hard,  making  usually  two  journeys 
every  night  from  the  outskirts  to  the  heart  of  the  city. 
They  have  to  turn  night  into  day,  and  to  carry  heavy  loads, 
and  they  must  go  out  whatever  the  weather  may  be.  But 
if  their  earnings  are  but  moderate,  they  are,  at  all  events, 
regular,  and  much  more  certain  than  those  of  many  callings 
which  rank  far  higher  in  the  public  estimation. 

They  are  always  on  very  good  terms  with  the  police, 
and  though  they  may  be  said  to  be  almost  outside  the  pale 
of  civilisation,  are  usually  of  no  religion,  and  live  and  die 
without  having  any  very  certain  civil  standing,  still  crimes 
are  almost  unknown  among  them,  and  they  are  some  of  the 
most  peaceable  and  orderly  inhabitants  of  the  unquiet  city 
of  Paris.  They  have  never  taken  any  part  in  the  frequent 
revolutions,  they  kept  tranquil  during  the  Commune,  and, 
it  is  said,  went  their  nightly  rounds  and  calmly  picked 
their  dust-heaps,  even  during  that  fearful  week  in  1871, 
when  one  part  of  the  beautiful  city  was  in  flames,  and 
Versaillists  and  Communards  were  fighting  like  savages  in 
other  quarters. 

In  England  we  have  no  one  who  at  all  answers  to  the 


SALE  AT  THE  TUILERIES.  275 

chtffonnier  ;  but  we  have  the  "  rag,  bone,  and  bottle  man,"  the 
"rabbit-  and  hare-skin  man,"  the  hawker  who  takes  old 
clothes  and  "  old  'ats  "  in  exchange  for  pots  of  flowers  and 
crockery  •  and  we  are  told  that  there  are  nearly  a  thousand 
persons  who  make  their  living  by  selling  second-hand  ar- 
ticles in  the  streets  of  London  alone. 

•  Much  might  be  said  on  the  subject  of  old  clothes,  the 
largest  dealers  in  which  do  so'  large  a  trade  that  they  are 
known  as  "  merchants,"  and  export  their  goods  to  all  parts 
of  the  world. 

Long  before  the  French  Revolution,  it  was  an  established 
custom  that  there  should  be  an  annual  sale  at  the  Tuileries 
of  all  the  discarded  garments  belonging  to  the  Royal  Family, 
the  proceeds  of  which  were  ostensibly  given  to  the  poor. 
The  practice  was  revived  by  the  Empress  Josephine,  and 
continued  through  all  the  various  changes  of  dynasty  until 
the  establishment  of  the  present  Republic. 

A  long  gallery  in  the  basement  of  the  palace,  looking 
into  the  garden,  was  fitted  throughout  its  whole  length 
with  oak  wardrobes  which  were  usually  well  filled  in  the 
course  of  the  year.  When  the  time  for  the  sale  came,  the 
shutters  were  closed,  the  gallery  was  brilliantly  lighted  up, 
and  visitors  were  admitted  by  invitation-cards  issued  by  the 
attendants  of  the  Queen  or  Empress.  Every  article  was 
ticketed  with  its  price,  from  which,  of  course,  there  was  no 
deviation ;  but  the  chief  part  was  generally  bought  up  by  the 
valets  and  women  of  the  wardrobe,  and  they  disposed  of  all 
that  remained  unsold  to  the  great  dealers,  who  again  sold 
the  goods  to  their  customers  at  immense  prices. 

Many  are  the  vicissitudes  of  old  clothes,  many  are  the 


Fig.  55.— PETTICOAT  LANE. 


OLD   CLOTHES.  277 

hands  through  which  they  pass,  whether  given  away  or  sold, 
and  with  every  change  they  drop  a  little  lower  in  the  social 
scale,  becoming  shabbier  and  shabbier,  until  at  last,  when 
they  will  hold  together  no  longer,  they  are  sold  as  rags,  and 
forthwith  enter  upon  a  fresh  career. 

The  trade  in  old  clothes  is  almost  entirely  in  the  hands  of 
Jews,  whose  great  mart  is  in  Houndsditch  (Fig.  55).  Some 
articles  are  sold  just  as  they  are,  others  are  mended,  patched, 
"  translated,"  and  made  to  look  like  new.  The  skirts  of  a  coat, 
being  the  part  least  worn,  are  easily  converted  into  children's 
clothes,  but  old  black  cloth  always  has  a  certain  value  even 
when  too  far  gone  to  make  miniature  waistcoats  or  knicker- 
bockers. France  takes  the  best  of  it  to  make  up  into  caps, 
and  that  which  is  still  more  threadbare  is  bought  up  for  the 
same  purpose  by  Russia  and  Poland.  The  black  velvet 
waistcoats,  still  worn  as  best  by  certain  classes,  are  converted 
into  skull-caps  for  German  and  Polish  Jews.  The  bulk  of 
our  old  clothes  goes  to  Holland  and  Ireland,  but  the  vast 
majority  of  the  scarlet  coats  worn  by  officers  in  the  army  are 
said  to  find  their  way  to  the  annual  fair  held  at  Leipzig. 

Regimentals,  smart  liveries,  robes  of  office,  &c.,  are 
greatly  admired  by  the  natives  of  the  West  Coast  of  Africa, 
and  many  of  them  are  therefore  despatched  thither ;  but  the 
red  tunics  of  the  British  infantry  are  chiefly  bought  by  the 
Dutch,  who  make  them  into  under-waistcoats  which  are 
worn  next  the  skin  by  every  careful  working-man,  since  they 
are  believed  to  be  effectual  in  keeping  off  rheumatism, 
a  matter  of  no  small  importance  in  their  watery  country.* 

*  Until  recently,  soldiers  have  been  allowed  to  dispose  of  old  uniforms 
as  they  pleased,  and  have  been  careful  of  their  clothes  accordingly,  knowing 


278  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

The  grey  overcoats  of  the  infantry  are  sold  at  the  Cape 
and  in  our  own  agricultural  districts,  where  they  are  bought 
especially  by  the  shepherds.  The  heavier  and  more  valuable 
cloaks  of  the  artillerymen  are  bought  by  the  Dutch ;  and 
Holland  and  Ireland  together  are  the  purchased  of  all  the 
police  uniforms. 

A  hat  is  an  article  which  possesses  a  certain  value  as 
long  as  it  will  hold  together  and  keep  any  shape  at  all ; 
and  it  is  wonderful  what  may  be  done  with  a  battered  old 
"chimney-pot,"  by  means  of  cutting  down,  re-lining,  brown 
paper,  glue,  rabbit-fur,  dye,  and  varnish.  By  judicious 
treatment,  the  old  hat  may  be  made  to  look,  for  a  time  at 
least,  like  a  smart  new  one,  and  as  long  as  it  is  worn  only  in 
fine  weather,  the  purchaser  will  no  doubt  congratulate  himself 
on  his  bargain ;  but  the  first  shower  will  reduce  the  whole 
fabrication  to  a  shapeless  mass,  and  he  will  probably  regret  the 
three  francs  which  he  has  spent  on  the  purchase.  It  is  the 
French  Jew  who  is  especially  clever  at  dealing  with  old  hats, 
which  he  buys  from  the  chiffonnier  at  eight  sous  a  piece,  and 
sells,  at  a  considerable  profit,  for  the  sum  above  mentioned. 

"  Stockings  !  You  can  get  as  good  stockings  as  tffi^body 
wants  for  three-ha'pence  a  pair,"  says  a  poor  woman  living 
in  Holborn.  "  They  gives  a  penny  a  pound  for  stockings 
at  the  rag-shop,  and  sells  them  at  a  ha'penny  a  leg,  and  ii 
you  buys  three  legs  you  can  make  a  first-rate  pair  o'  stock- 
ings, good  enough  for  any  one  !  " 

that  the  better  their  condition  the  better  price  they  would  fetch.  At  Alder- 
shot  the  old-clothes  dealers  used  to  drive  a  very  satisfactory  trade,  but 
disused  uniforms  have  now  to  be  returned,  in  accordance  with  an  order  to 
that  effect,  to  the  authorities. 


RAGS  IMPORTED.  279 

But  there  comes  a  time  in  the  existence  of  old  clothes, 
whatever  the  rank  of  life  in  which  they  started,  when  they 
are  too  old,  and  patched,  and  faded,  and  threadbare,  either 
for  the  dealers  or  the  pawnbrokers.  In  fact  they  are  no 
longer  clothes  but  "  rags,"  and  in  this  condition  they  find  their 
way  to  the  rag-shops,  either  directly,  or  through  the  medium 
of  the  dust-cart. 

It  has  been  stated  that  not  more  than  two-fifths  of 
the  rags  in  England  are  preserved,  and  manufacturers  are 
consequently  obliged  to  import  large  quantities,  an  expense 
which  might  be  entirely  spared  to  the  country  if  people  were 
more  thrifty. 

The  London  Ragged  School  at  one  time  started  some 
of  its  boys  with  four  trucks,  with  the  result  that  in  nine 
months  they  had  collected  eighty-two  tons  of  rags  and  other 
refuse,  and  50,000  bottles.  It  is  reckoned  that  each  600 
houses  would  well  supply  one  truck ;  but  the  Lancashire 
famine  diverted  all  the  rags  in  another  direction,  and  the 
attempt  to  collect  them  does  not  seem  to  have  been  made 
again.  In  former  days  every  thrifty  housewife  had  a  "  rag- 
bag/' into  which  were  put  not  only  rags,  but  all  the  snippings 
which  result  from  the  process  of  "cutting-out,"  and  are 
now  too  often  consigned  to  the  fire.  Some  countries  alto- 
gether forbid  the  export  of  rags,  and  our  chief  supplies  are 
drawn  from  Italy  and  Germany,  of  which  we  are  large 
customers. 

All  old  woollen  clothes  come  to  the  soil  at  last,  being 
extremely  valuable  as  manure.  The  early  broccoli  grown 
in  the  west  of  Cornwall  thrive  better  on  woollen  rags  than 
on  anything  else ;  and  hops  of  a  certain  quality  cannot,  it 


280  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

is  said,  be  grown  without  them.  But  good  rags  are  so 
valuable  for  other  purposes  besides  these,  that  it  is  chiefly 
the  seams  and  other  unusable  parts  which  are  put  away 
to  rot  and  then  sent  to  the  Kentish  hop-fields. 

But  for  the  fact  that  old  wool  can  be  used  again,  all  our 
woollen  goods  would  be  double  the  present  price,  for  one- 
third  of  the  manufactures  of  this  country  are  supplied  by 
"  shoddy  "and  "  mungo,"  that  is,  wool  and  worsted,  no  matter 
how  old,  which  are  reduced  to  their  former  state,  and  then 
re-woven. 

In  1882  we  imported  37,511  tons  of  woollen  rags,  at  a 
cost  of  ,£820,616.  Most  of  them  are  bought  up  by  Dews- 
bury  and  two  or  three  neighbouring  towns,  where  they  are 
torn  to  pieces  by  sharp  spikes,  and  worked  up  into  cheap 
cloth  for  the  slaves  of  South  America,  or  re-spun,  with  the 
addition  of  new  wool,  and  manufactured  into  all  kinds  of 
woollen  goods. 

The  "devil's"  dust,  as  it  is  called,  after  the  machine 
employed  for  this  purpose,  which  is  produced  by  the  tearing 
up  of  the  rags,  befouls  the  whole  town  of  Dewsbury,  and  is 
so  injurious  to  the  workpeople  engaged  in  the  factories,  that 
they  are  obliged  to  keep  their  mouths  muffled. 

Some  of  the  rags  are  ground  to  powder,  variously 
coloured,  and  used  for  the  making  of  flock-papers  and 
artificial  flowers;  some  are  taken  by  the  paper-mills  and 
made  into  blotting  and  other  papers  of  an  absorbent 
character,  and  some  again,  after  being  boiled  with  pearl- 
ash,  horns,  hoofs,  hoof-  and  hide-clippings,  blood,  old  iron, 
waste  leather,  &c.,  reappear  in  the  form  of  yellow  crystals 
of  prussiate  of  potash  used  in  dyeing,  and  from  this  again 


PA  PER  -  MA  KING.  281 

the   beautiful   colour    known    as   Prussian   blue   is    manu- 
factured. 

Rags  of  all  kinds  are  in  great  demand  for  the  paper- 
mills,  many  of  which  use  more  than  thirty  tons  a  week. 
All  are  welcome,  whether  silk,  wool,  linen,  cambric,  lace, 
holland,  fustian,  corduroy,  bagging,  canvas,  and  even 
— though  these  cannot  be  called  "  rags  " — old  ropes.  In 
fact,  almost  any  species  of  tough  fibre,  even  the  roots  and 
bine  of  hops,  vine-tendrils,  cabbage-stalks,  and  straw,  may 
be  made  into  paper.  Straw  alone  makes  the  paper  too 
brittle  to  be  serviceable,  unless  the  silica  contained  in  it 
be  destroyed,  but  it  is  frequently  mixed  with  other 
materials.  Still  it  is  not  probable  that  anything  will  ever 
lessen  the  value  of  rags,  since  they  must  needs  go  on 
accumulating  and  being  disposed  of  in  one  way  or 
another,  and  are,  therefore,  to  be  had  cheaper  than  any- 
thing else. 

Before  they  come  to  the  mill  it  is  necessary  that  the 
rags  should  be  sorted,  that  the  paper-maker  may  know 
exactly  of  what  the  bulk  is  composed  and  determine  its 
destination  accordingly,  old  rope  being  made  into  coarse 
brown  paper,  and  the  refuse  of  the  flax-mills  into  tracing 
paper,  while  the  paper  for  bank-notes  is  made  from  the 
best  white  linen.  * 

In  1882  we  imported  21,200  tons  of  linen  and  cotton 
rags  of  very  various  degrees  of  cleanliness,  those  from 
Italy  being  lowest  in  the  scale,  while  some  of  the  English 
ones  are  said  to  be  so  clean  as  to  require  no  bleaching. 

*  The  tunics  of  the  Jewish  priests  are  said  to  have  been  unravelled  and 
used  as  wicks  for  the  lamps  during  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles. 


282  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

Rags  have  one  advantage,  besides  their  cheapness,  over  all 
other  materials,  in  that  the  repeated  washings  which  they 
have  undergone  while  in  use  as  wearing  apparel,  are  an 
excellent  preparation  for  their  conversion  into  paper. 

The  first  thing  done  with  them  is  to  open  all  the  seams, 
take  out  any  stray  pins  and  needles,  and  remove  buttons, 
which  might  injure  the  machinery  or  spoil  the  quality  01 
the  paper.  Women  are  employed  in  this  part  of  the  bu- 
siness, and  they  stand  before  horizontal  frames  covered 
with  very  coarse  wire-cloth,  and  having  a  large  knife  fixed 
upright  in  the  centre,  with  the  blade  turned  away  from 
them.  The  bulk  of  the  rags  are  cut  up  by  machinery, 
but  those  intended  for  very  fine  paper  are  cut  by  hand  into 
small  pieces,  about  four  inches  square,  by  being  drawn 
across  the  edge  of  the  knife.  Much  of  the  dirt  and  sand 
passes  through  the  wire-cloth  into  a  drawer  below,  during 
this  process ;  the  remainder  is  beaten  out  by  machinery, 
and  the  rags  are  then  boiled  with  soda  and  lime.  Clean 
white  rags  are  said  to  yield  from  65  to  80  per  cent,  of  their 
weight  in  paper. 

Statistics  for  1884  show  that  there  were  in  that  year 
3,985  mills  in  the  world,  which  together  produced  nearly 
17 J  million  cwts.  of  paper,  of  which  the  newspapers  use 
about  one-third. 

But  the  rags  have  not  come  to  an  end  of  their  career 
when  worked  up  into  paper,  for  the  paper  itself  may  be 
used  over  and  over  again,  and  clean  waste-paper  yields  from 
75  to  80  per  cent,  of  its  weight  in  new  paper. 

No  paper,  we  are  told,  need  be  wasted,  since  it  has 
been  found  possible  to  remove  even  the  stain  of  printing 


IV A  S  TE-PA  PER.  283 

ink,  but  still  no  doubt  far  more  is  consumed  by  cook  and 
housemaid  in  the  lighting  of  fires  than  is  at  all  necessary. 
A  whole  newspaper  seems  to  be  considered  a  by  no 
means  extravagant  allowance  for  one  fire  by  some  people, 
though  it  would  light  much  better  with  one  fourth  the 
quantity,  or  even  less.  There  are  many  shops  where  news- 
papers are  bought  at  the  rate  of  a  penny  a  pound,  which 
seems  to  be  a  protest  against  waste. 

But  it  must  be  confessed  that  there  is  not  much  en- 
couragement to  people  to  save  their  waste-paper  at  present, 
in  spite  of  the  alluring  advertisements  offering  to  buy  it 
up.  In  the  country,  where  space  is  less  valuable,  room 
may  be  found  for  two  or  three  sacks,  perhaps,  in  an  out- 
house, and  then  it  may  be  worth  while  to  send  them  pe- 
riodically to  paper-mills,  or  other  buyers.  But  in  London 
one  sack  is  about  as  much  as  most  people  can  accom- 
modate, and  for  this,  two  or  three  shillings,  repayable  when 
the  sack  is  returned,  have  to  be  deposited ;  it  takes  a 
long  time  really  to  fill  a  sack,  and  when  filled  and  fetched 
away  it  not  unfrequently  happens  that  a  note  is  received 
saying  that  the  value  of  the  paper  just  balances  the  expense 
of  fetching  it,  and  this,  even  when  the  distance  is  less 
than  a  ten  minutes'  walk.  People  who  have  had  such  an 
experience  as  this,  which  is  not  uncommon,  will  certainly 
not  care  to  take  the  trouble  of  making  another  collection, 
or  to  give  up  the  space  needed  for  the  sack ;  but  no  doubt 
many  would  be  glad  to  give  away  the  accumulations  from 
their  waste-paper  baskets,  &c.,  if  only  some  one  would  call 
for  them  periodically. 

Meanwhile,  however,  large  quantities  of  waste-paper  do 


284  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

find  their  way  back  to  the  paper-mills,  to  be  re-made 
either  into  paper  or  papier  mdc/te,  in  which  latter  manu- 
facture no  paper  of  any  kind  comes  amiss.  Tons  of  old 
account-books,  bankers'  books,  and  of  ledgers  ;  cuttings  of 
bookbinders,  of  paste-board  makers,  of  envelope-  and  pocket- 
book-makers,  of  print-sellers,  of  paper-hangers,  &c.,  are  dis- 
posed of  for  this  purpose,  and  reappear  as  cornices,  picture- 
frames,  bulk-heads,  cabin  partitions,  pianoforte-cases,  chairs, 
tables,  &c.,  not  to  mention  the  thousands  of  little  fancy 
articles  which  are  made  of  papier  mdc/ie. 

There  are  three  kinds  of  papier  m&che:  a  sort  of 
pasteboard,  in  which  sheets  of  paper  are  merely  pasted 
together,  which  is  much  used  for  tea-trays  ;  a  more  solid 
kind,  in  which  the  paper  is  pressed  until  it  becomes 
hard  enough  to  take  a  polish ;  and  a  third  variety,  in  which 
the  paper  is  reduced  to  a  pulp,  in  which  condition  it  may 
be  moulded  into  any  shape  that  may  be  desired. 

Paper,  in  the  form  of  papier  m&che,  is  daily  being 
applied  to  fresh  uses.  Not  long  ago  a  daily  paper  an- 
nounced that  a  factory  chimney  had  been  made  of  it. 
In  America  it  has  been  used  for  the  rails  of  railroads,  the 
pulp  being,  it  is  said,  as  solid  as  metal,  much  more  durable, 
and  less  influenced  by  atmospheric  changes  than  iron  or 
steel.  Pasteboard  wheels,  made  of  equal  parts  of  wood-pulp 
and  straw,  have  been  used  exclusively  for  many  years  past 
by  the  Pullman  Palace- Car  Company. 

Much  waste-paper  finds  its  way  to  the  dust-contractor's 

yard,  where   it  becomes   the  property   of  the  "moulder/' 

at  least   in  some  yards,  for  the  regulations  are  not  quite 

he  same  everywhere.     The  "moulder"  is  the  foreman  of 


HARD  CORE  AND  SOFT  CORE.  285 

the  yard.  He  pays  the  sifters  himself,  and  makes  his  own 
profits  out  of  the  paper,  rags,  bones,  glass,  iron,  metal  of 
all  sorts,  string,  and  corks. 

The  contractor  has  the  hard  and  soft  "  core  "  and  the 
coals  and  cinders.  The  "  hard  core  " — consisting  of  broken 
crockery,  earthenware,  oyster-shells,  &c. — is  sold  for  road- 
making,  but  is  now  frequently  unsaleable,  and  has  to  be 
got  rid  of  at  a  loss.  The  "soft  core,"  consisting  of  all 
sorts  of  organic  matter,  refuse  from  fish-shops,  green- 
grocers, £c.,  is  sold  for  manure,  and  the  veritable  "dust"  or 
soil,  which  is  as  fine  as  gunpowder,  is  said  to  be  especially 
useful  for  cultivating  marsh  lands  and  clover,  and  was  at 
one  time  so  much  sought  after  by  farmers  that  ship-loads 
of  it  were  brought  from  the  North.  Some  of  it  is  also 
bought  by  the  brickmakers  to  mix  with  clay. 

Rags  are  not  sorted  in  the  yard,  but  sold  in  the  lump 
to  a  Jew.  The  largest  cinders  and  the  coals  are  bought 
by  laundresses  and  braziers,  the  smaller — called  "  breeze  " — 
by  the  brickmakers,  who  use  them  as  fuel,  to  burn  between 
the  layers  of  bricks. 

In  some  yards  the  sifters  are  allowed  to  take  wood, 
corks,  and  a  daily  quantity  of  cinders,  as  their  perquisites, 
the  allowance  of  the  latter  being  so  liberal  that  little 
markets  are  frequently  held  at  the  entrance  to  the  yard, 
where  the  poor  of  the  neighbourhood  come  to  buy  cheap 
fuel.  In  some  places  the  women  are  also  allowed  pill- 
boxes and  gallipots,  and  any  crockery  that  can  be  matched 
and  mended ;  and  they  may  also  appropriate  the  skins 
of  dead  cats.  Cat- skins  are  worth  from  4d.  to  6d.,  the 
highest  price  being  given  for  white  skins.  They  are 


286  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

used,  not  only  as  fur,  dyed  or  undyed,  but  are  made  into 
a  sort  of  velvet,  which  has  a  very  good  appearance,  and 
cat-  and  rabbit-skins  are  also  converted  into  felt  hats.  The 
fashion  of  fur-tippets  has  in  all  likelihood  considerably 
raised  the  value  of  skins.  Hare-  and  rabbit-skins  do  not 
usually  find  their  way  into  the  dust-bin,  but  are  bought 
up  by  dealers  in  this  particular  kind  of  refuse.  People 
in  England  do  not  make  nearly  as  much  use  of  them  as 
their  neighbours,  and  export  two-thirds  of  them — that  is 
eight  or  nine  million  a  year — to  Germany,  France,  and 
Belgium. 

Hare-skins  are  much  valued  as  chest-preservers,  and 
fetch  from  i8s.  6d.  to  285.  the  hundred. 

Dust-sifting  is  necessarily  a  very  rough  and  dirty  occu- 
pation, but  the  wages  are  not  bad,  being  from  8s.  to  IDS. 
a  week  in  money,  besides  the  perquisites,  and  the  health 
of  the  dust-women  is  said  to  be  exceptionally  good.  In  one 
large  yard  during  the  prevalence  of  cholera  and  smallpox 
not  a  single  person  engaged  there  was  even  attacked.  The 
constant  living  in  the  open  air,  and  the  fact  that  they  are 
obliged  to  use  a  good  deal  of  soap  and  water  no  doubt  has 
much  to  do  with  their  good  health. 

Corks  are  re-cut  or  used  in  the  making  of  kamptulicon 
floor-cloth.  In  Paris  old  corks  are  collected  from  the 
Seine,  washed,  re-cut,  and  sold  at  a  few  sous  the  hundred. 
Waste  cork,  that  which  is  too  rough  for  cork-making,  finds  its 
use  as  floats  for  fishermen  and  the  stuffing  of  horse-collars. 

Old  boots  and  shoes  go  first  to  the  "  translators,"  who 
patch  them  till  they  can  be  patched  no  more,  and  then 
they  are  boiled  down  into  glue. 


OLD  BOOTS  AND  SHOES.  287 

A  daily  paper  some  time  since  gave  curious  statistics 
on  the  subject  of  old  boots  and  shoes,  which  had  been 
brought  to  light  in  the  course  of  inquiries  instituted  in 
New  York  by  the  superintendent  of  the  census.  In 
New  York  and  Brooklyn  about  three  million  pairs  of 
old  shoes  are  thrown  away  every  year,  and  used  to  be 
plentiful  in  the  gutters  in  some  parts.  They  have  now 
become  scarce,  however,  as  they  are  diligently  picked  up, 
and  used  for  three  purposes.  Those  which  are  not  too  far 
gone  are  patched  and  greased,  and  sold  to  the  people  who 
deal  in  such  goods.  Many  folk  wear  one  shoe  much  more 
than  the  other,  and  the  dealers  find  pairs  for  the  odd  ones. 
The  shoes  not  worth  patching  are  cut  up,  and  the  good  bits 
are  used  for  patching  other  shoes,  while  all  the  worthless 
parts  are  converted  into  "  Jamaica  rum,"  by  a  process  known 
only  to  the  manufacturers.  It  is  said  they  are  boiled  in  pure 
spirits,  and  allowed  to  stand  for  a  few  weeks,  and  that  the 
product  far  surpasses  rum  made  in  the  ordinary  way ! 

Broken  glass  of  all  kinds  always  finds  a  ready  market, 
and  may  re-appear  on  our  tables  over  and  over  again,  for 
in  making  glass  it  is  usual  to  melt  the  materials  together 
with  a  quarter  or  half  their  weight  of  "  cullet,"  or  broken 
glass,  of  the  same  kind,  so  that  many  hundred  tons  are 
wanted  in  the  course  of  the  year.  Of  late,  moreover,  the 
coarsest  kinds  of  broken  glass  have  had  another  destiny 
opened  up  to  them,  being  bought  by  a  manufacturer — Mr. 
Rust — who  melts  them  down,  colours  the  paste  any  tint 
he  chooses  by  a  secret  process  of  his  own,  and  when  it 
is  cold  breaks  it  into  irregular  fragments  of  various  sizes, 
with  which  he  produces  very  effective  mosaics  for  the 


288  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

decoration  of  shops  and  other  buildings,  and,  as  the  ma- 
terials are  cheap,  he  is  able  to  sell  them  at  prices  much 
below  those  at  which  any  other  mosaics  can  be  bought. 

Broken  bottles  are  also  ground  up  to  make  glass- 
paper.  The  common  kinds  are  made  of  the  coarsest 
materials,  of  which  rough  sand  and  soapers'  waste  are 
some  of  the  principal.  Dirty  water  and  soapsuds  from 
laundries  are  used  for  watering  gardens,  or  the  grease 
is  recovered  and  turned  into  soap  again.  The  water 
in  which  fleeces  have  been  washed  yields  fatty  salts, 
called  "  suint,"  from  which  potash  salts  are  made,  and 
also  soap,  used  in  scouring  woollen  manufactures. 

Bones  are  the  only  other  considerable  item  which  come 
under  the  head  of  "  household  refuse."  In  Russia  they  are 
either  exported  or  simply  "  wasted,"  that  is  so  far  as  man 
is  concerned,  being  left  to  Nature  to  dispose  of  at  her 
leisure.  In  more  civilised  countries  they  are  put  to  a 
variety  of  uses,  the  majority  of  them  going  first  to  the  bone- 
boilers  to  have  the  animal  matter,  oil  and  gelatine,  extracted. 
Simply  ground  to  dust,  they  form  a  valuable  manure,  and 
are  imported  in  quantities  from  Australia,  in  the  shape  of 
bone-dust  tiles.  As  "  bone-meal,"  they  are  used  for  feeding 
cattle.  At  a  large  dyeing  establishment  in  Manchester  bones 
are  boiled  for  the  sake  of  the  gelatine  or  size,  which  is  used 
for  stiffening  goods,  the  fat  is  sold  to  the  candle-makers,  and 
size,  liquor,  and  bones,  are  bought  for  manure.  After 
boiling  and  bleaching — processes  which  render  them  more 
brittle  than  before — bones  may  go  on  to  the  turner,  to  be 
made  into  knife-handles,  tooth-  and  nail-brushes,  buttons, 
and  the  like. 


POTS  AND  PANS.  289 

Bone-black,  or  "  animal  charcoal  " — as  it  is  popularly 
but  improperly  called — is  made  by  burning  bones  in  closed 
vessels.  From  it  is  made  the  "  ivory  black  "  of  the  artist, 
and  it  is  also  used  in  the  manufacture  of  blacking.  Bone 
charcoal  is  employed  for  refining  sugar,  and  is  so  absor- 
bent that  it  will  take  all  the  colour  out  of  treacle,  or  sugar- 
water  coloured  with  indigo,  leaving  them  quite  white. 
The  "  charcoal "  may  be  used  over  and  over  again  by  wash- 
ing and  heating,  and  when  finally  exhausted  for  refining 
purposes,  is  used  for  manure  and  the  manufacture  of  phos- 
phorus. 

A  word  must  be  said  about  the  old  tin  and  iron  ware — 
kettles,  pots,  and  pans,  &c. — which  are  sometimes  consigned 
to  the  dust-bin.  The  tin-soldier  business  seems  to  be  eon- 
fined  to  the  Continent ;  in  England  the  best  parts  of  an 
ancient  tin-kettle  are  clipped  out,  cut  into  shape,  punched 
with  holes,  blacked  and  varnished,  and  used  to  strengthen 
the  edges  and  comers  of  cheap  trunks. 

Old  iron  may,  of  course,  be  melted  down,  but  before  this 
happens  it  frequently  takes  a  voyage  as  ballast,  and  large 
shiploads  of  frying-pans,  gridirons,  saucepans,  candlesticks, 
tea-trays,  boilers,  shovels,  old  corrugated  iron  roofing,  the 
produce  of  the  old-iron  shops,  and  the  findings  of  the 
Thames  mud-larks,  are  sent  off  to  the  United  States  and 
the  Continent.  Our  exports  of  this  description  reached 
132,033  tons  in  1882,  and  were  valued  at  ^507,161. 

Saucepans  and  frying-pans  naturally  lead  one  to  think  of 

food,  and  in  concluding  our  notice  of  household  refuse,  we 

may  mention  a  curious  market  held  at  the  Halles  Centrales, 

in  Paris  (Fig.  56),  for  the  sale  of  broken  meat  of  all  kinds, 

T 


290  THE    WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

which  was  described  at  length  by  the  correspondent  of  the 
London  Daily  Telegraph,  in  1878. 

"The  fragments  which  form  the  'jewellery'  of  the 
Halles  Centrales,  are  brought  down  in  big  baskets  between 
seven  and  eight  every  morning  by  the  garfons  of  the  great 
Boulevard  restaurants,  or  by  the  larbins  from  the  hotels  of 
the  Ministers  or  the  foreign  Ambassadors." 

If  a  grand  dinner  has  been  given  the  night  before  at 
one  of  the  Embassies,  the  show  of  "jewellery"  in  the  morning 
will  be  magnificent.  There  will  be  whole  turkeys  and 
fowls,  hams,  and  boars'  heads,  which  have  been  scarcely 
touched,  displayed  upon  the  deal  boards. 

Out  of  the  season  the  supply  comes  chiefly  from  the 
leading  restaurants,  where  the  "  leavings  "  are  the  perquisites 
of  the  waiters.  Some  dealers,  and  they  are  nearly  always 
women,  have  a  yearly  contract  with  particular  restaurants ; 
some  arrange  the  goods  themselves ;  others,  feeling  that  it  is 
a  matter  of  importance,  and  that  they  do  not  possess  the 
requisite  taste  and  skill,  engage  a  professional  hand  to  do  it 
for  them.  The  object,  of  course,  is  to  make  a  very  little 
seem  a  great  deal,  and  also  to  render  the  various  "  portions  " 
as  attractive  to  the  eye  as  possible,  and  the  "  artists "  flit 
from  stall  to  stall,  giving  here  and  there  a  touch  of  green  in 
the  shape  of  spinach  or  Brussels  sprout,  or  of  red  in  the 
form  of  carrot  or  tomato,  adding  a  morsel  of  blanc-mange 
here,  a  bit  of  pie-crust  there,  and  so  on,  until  each  "portion  " 
looks  as  it  should. 

The  "  portions "  are  arranged  on  quarter-sheets  of  old 
newspapers,  and  vary  in  price  from  two  sous  upwards. 
As  a  sample,  imagine  a  pile  consisting  of  the  leg  of  a 


A  DINNER  FOR  FIVE  Sous. 


291 


partridge,  the  remnants  of  an  omelette,  the  tail  of  a  fried 
sole,  two  ribs  of  a  jugged  hare,  a  spoonful  of  haricot  beans, 
a  scrap  of  filet,  a  cut  pear,  a  handful  of  salad,  a  slice  of 
tomato,  and  a  dab  of  jelly,  all  to  be  had  for  five  sous,  or 
twopence-halfpenny  ! 

The  purchasers  are,  not  the  cheap  eating-houses,  as  has 
been  supposed,  but  the  "quiet  poor,"  people  who  are 
ashamed  to  beg,  and  but  for  the  merciful  cheapness  of 
these  appetising  scraps  would  not  taste  meat  from  one 
month's  end  to- another. 


Fig.  56.— THE  HALLES  CENTRALES,  PARIS. 


292 


CHAPTER   XVIII. 

MISCELLANEOUS     REFUSE. 

Utilisation  of  Refuse — Gas  Companies  ;  Coal-tar  and  what  is  obtained  from 
it — English  Miners  in  Chile — Hydrochloric  Acid — Soot  and  Smoke — 
Street-sweepings — Thrift  of  the  Chinese  ;  Chinese  Barbers— The  Price 
of  a  Head  of  Hair— Refuse  of  the  Fish  Trade— The  Queen's  Tobacco- 
pipe — "  Mahloo  Mixture" — Cotton-seed  Oil,  Cotton-stalks,  and  Cotton- 
waste — Oil  from  Waste  Products— Saw-dust — Metal  Refuse — Furnace- 
slag. 

WHAT  one  generation  neglects,  wastes,  even  pays  to 
get  rid  of,  another  finds  to  be  valuable  property  ; 
and  a  history  of  the  utilisation  of  refuse  would  almost  be 
a  history  of  civilisation. 

One  of  the  most  notable  examples  of  the  way  in  which 
the  refuse  of  one  generation  makes  the  fortune  of  the  next, 
is  to  be  found  in  the  history  of  the  gas  companies. 

When  gas  has  been  separated  from  coal  there  remains 
in  the  retort,  first,  solid  coke,  which  represents  most  of  the 
carbon  contained  in  the  coal,  and  is  so  hard  as  to  be  able  to 
cut  glass,  like  its  near  relation,  the  diamond ;  secondly,  there 
is  a  certain  amount  of  tarry  matter  and  watery  liquid.  The 
latter,  which  is  called  gas-water,  or  ammonia-water,  is  a 
brownish  liquid,  with  a  strong  smell,  and  yields  salts  of 
ammonia,  from  which  spirit  of  hartshorn  is  made. 

But  the  coal-tar?  Previous  to  1856  it  was  worth 
hardly  |d.  a  gallon  in  London,  while  in  the  country  the 
gas-makers  were  glad  to  give  it  away.  Yet  now,  whereas 


COAL-TAR  PRODUCTS.  293 

nine  million  tons  of  coal  at  125.  are  worth  but  £5,400,000, 
the  waste  products  on  this  amount,  after  the  gas  has  been 
extracted,  are,  according  to  Dr.  Siemens,  actually  worth 
£8,370,000.* 

The  fact  is  that  the  coal-tar  which  the  gas-makers  were 
so  anxious  to  get  rid  of  at  any  price,  or  no  price,  has 
been  discovered  to  contain  many  most  valuable  substances, 
among  which  are  the  white  crystalline  acid  called  carbolic, 
now  universally  used  as  a  powerful  disinfectant;  naphthaline, 
which  crystallises  in  white  pearly  plates ;  the  colourless 
liquid  called  benzole,  and  white  waxy-looking  paraffine.  All 
these  are  hydrocarbons,  and  as  we  have  already  seen  that 
the  essential  oils  to  which  plants  owe  all  their  sweet  scents, 
are  also  compounds  of  carbon  and  hydrogen,  it  may  not 
surprise  us  to  hear  that  the  perfume  of  woodruff,  melilot, 
Tonquin  bean,  and  many  others,  can  be  obtained  from  gas- 
tar,  which  also  yields  the  peculiar  odour  of  jargonelle  pears 
— used  in  flavouring  cheap  confectionery — and  oil  of  bitter 
almonds. 

From  benzole  is  obtained  another  colourless  liquid 
called  aniline,  which  is  now  manufactured  on  a  very  large 
scale,  as,  when  mixed  with  other  things,  it  produces  the 

*  9,000,000  tons  of  coal  at  125.        ....  ,£5,400,000 
Waste  products  on  this  amount  : — 

Colouring  matter  for  dyes     ....  3,350,000 

Sulphate  of  ammonia    .        .         .         .         .  1,947,000 

Pitch    ........  365,000 

Creosote 208,000 

Carbolic  Acid 100,000 

Gas-coke       .......  2,400,000 

,£8,370,000 


294  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

brilliant  colours  extensively  used  for  dyeing  silk,  woollens, 
and  other  goods,  and  for  printing  calicoes. 

Not  long  ago  the  Corporation  of  Antwerp  used  to  spend 
;£i,ooo  a  year  in  getting  rid  of  the  refuse  of  the  town, 
whereas  now  they  sell  their  street-sweepings  and  sewage  for 
^"40,000. 

Some  years  ago,  when  English  miners  from  Cornwall 
arrived  in  Chile,  they  were  astonished  to  find  the  natives 
throwing  away  as  useless  the  copper  pyrites  which  they 
knew  to  be  so  valuable ;  this  being  the  common  form  in 
which  copper  ore  is  found  in  Cornwall.  But  the  Chileans 
were  so  certain  that  it  contained  no  copper  at  all,  that  they 
not  only  laughed  at  the  ignorance  of  the  English,  but  sold 
them  their  richest  veins  for  a  few  dollars.  Then,  again,  the 
cinders  from  the  old  furnaces  were  thrown  away  as  utterly 
useless,  and  it  was  actually  found  worth  while  to  transport 
them  to  England,  where,  by  stamping  and  washing,  particles 
of  copper  were  recovered  in  such  abundance  as  to  amply 
repay  the  purchasers. 

Soda-ash,  or  sodium  carbonate,  is  a  substance  manu- 
factured in  England  on  an  enormous  scale  and  used  for 
glass-making,  soap-making,  bleaching,  and  various  other 
purposes.  Formerly  it  was  prepared  from  barilla — i.e.,  the 
ashes  of  sea-plants — but  now  it  is  obtained  from  sea-salt  or 
sodium  chloride,  which  is  a  compound  of  the  metal  sodium 
with  chlorine  gas. 

In  making  soda-ash,  sulphuric  acid  is  poured  upon  the 
salt,  and  the  sulphur  combining  with  the  sodium  forms 
sodium  sulphate,  or  "  salt  cake,"  which  is  the  first  step  in 
the  manufacture.  But  what  becomes  of  the  chlorine  ?  It 


HYDROCHLORIC  ACID.  295 

unites  with  the  hydrogen  of  the  acid,*  forming  hydrochloric 

acid  gas,  or  spirits  of  salt,  which  passes  away  in  the  shape 

of  a  white  smoke.     That  is  to  say,  it  would  so  pass  away  if 

it  were  allowed  to  escape,  and  it  did  pass  away  at  one 

time,  to  the  annoyance  and  injury  of  all  who  lived  near  the 

factories,  for   the   fumes  are  very  powerful,  and  not  only 

destroyed  trees  and  grass   and   every  green   thing  in  the 

neighbourhood,  but  ruined  the  farmers  and  gardeners  for 

some  distance.     Then  taller  chimneys  were  built  to  carry 

the  fumes  higher  up,  and  so  they  did  ;  but  the  gas  was  not 

destroyed,  and  simply  came  down  again  a  little  farther  off 

than  before,  but  with  equally  disastrous  effects.     This  kind 

of  thing,  of  course,  could  not  be  allowed  to  go  on,  and  the 

next  plan  tried  was  turning  the  gas  into  the  canals,  where  it 

was  speedily  absorbed  by  the  water.     But  then  there  soon 

arose  another  outcry,   for   the   people  who   owned   barges 

complained  that   the  gas  made  the  iron  rivets  and  nails 

come  out  of  their  boats.     Finally,  instead  of  being  allowed 

to  pollute  the  air  or  the  canals,  the  gas  was  collected  in  a 

small  quantity  of  water,  and   the   Alkali  Works  Act   was 

passed,  compelling  the  manufacturers  to  condense  it  all  and 

not  suffer  any  to  escape.     And  then  it  was  discovered  that 

this  noxious  matter   might   be   converted   into  a  valuable 

servant. 

Hitherto  the  only  way  of  bleaching  known  had  been  by 
means  of  the  sun  and  air,  but  now  chlorine  gas  was  found 
to  be  a  very  powerful  bleacher,  and  was  made  to  do  the 
work  instead.  "By  passing  hydrochloric  gas  and  air  to- 
gether over  heated  copper  sulphate,"  the  hydrogen  of  the 

*  All  true  acids  contain  hydrogen. 


296  THE   WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

one  unites  with  the  oxygen  of  the  other  to  form  water,  and 
the  chlorine  is  set  free.  Being  wanted,  however,  in  the  form 
of  a  solid,  not  a  gas,  it  is  sent  into  lime,  with  which  it  forms 
the  well-known  bleaching  powder,  chloride  of  lime,  also 
much  used  as  a  disinfectant,  which  is  worth  £ij  a  ton. 

Two  hundred  thousand  tons  of  common  salt  are  annually 
consumed  in  Great  Britain  for  the  preparation  of  nearly  the 
same  weight  of  soda-ash,  of  which  the  value  is  about 
^2,000,000  ;  and  more  than  1,000  tons  of  impure  hydro- 
chloric acid  are  produced  every  week  in  South  Lancashire 
alone  during  the  process,  all  of  which  was,  until  of  late 
years,  not  merely  wasted  but  allowed  to  be  positively 
destructive.  The  sulphur  used  in  the  process  is  still  a  waste 
product,  and  from  its  bad  smell  is  a  great  nuisance  ;  but  no 
doubt  in  time  some  use  will  be  found  for  this  also. 

Another  waste  product  which  at  present  is  allowed  to 
be  a  general  nuisance  is  the  unconsumed  carbon,  which 
escapes  from  our  chimneys  in  the  shape  of  finely-divided 
soot,  or  smoke.  The  weight  of  soot  in  the  air  on  a  winter 
day  in  London  is  estimated  by  Dr.  Siemens  at  fifty  tons, 
while  of  poisonous  carbonic  oxide  there  are  five  times  as 
much,  and  the  two  together  "  destroy  public  monuments, 
waste  life,  sight,  and  cheerfulness,"  and  deprive  us  of 
so  much  warmth.  Mills,  furnaces,  factories,  bakehouses,  &c., 
are  now  obliged  to  consume  their  own  smoke,  and  all  that  is 
needed  in  private  houses  is  some  means  of  subjecting  the 
smoke  to  heat  sufficient  to  consume  it  before  allowing  it  to 
enter  the  chimney. 

It  is  said  that  smoke  is  a  great  disinfecting  agent  in 
populous  towns,  and  as  such  it  may  be  considered  useful ; 


SMOKE  AND  SOOT.  297 

but  the  same  end  might  surely  be  attained  in  a  civilised 
community  by  other  means  without  involving  the  present 
drawbacks  of  wasted  time,  smarting  eyes,  injured  bronchial 
tubes,  and  defaced  buildings.  And  what  a  wonderful 
difference  it  would  make  to  the  spirits  of  Londoners  in 
general,  to  say  nothing  of  the  unfortunate  artists,  if  the 
air  were  clear,  the  sun  allowed  to  shine  upon  them  when- 
ever he  would,  and  they  themselves  freed  from  the  necessity 
of  waging  an  incessant  and  more  or  less  hopeless  warfare 
with  "  blacks  ! "  Nature  consumes  her  own  smoke,  why 
should  not  we  ?  Certainly  the  man  who  contrives  to  banish 
it  from  our  towns  and  cities  will  deserve  all  the  fortune  he 
may  be  able  to  make  out  of  it. 

Soot,  we  may  remark,  is  looked  down  upon  by  "  dust ;  " 
nevertheless,  in  addition  to  what  we  pay  to  be  delivered 
from  it,  soot  is  worth  about  6d.  a  bushel,  or  a  bushel  of 
soot  is  reckoned  equal  in  value  to  a  quartern  loaf.  Its 
chief  value  as  a  manure  arises  from  the  sulphate  of 
ammonia  it  contains,  but  the  notion  that  the  soot  obtained 
from  kitchen  chimneys  is  superior  to  any  other,  owing  to 
the  fatty  matters  mixed  with  it,  does  not  seem  to  have  any- 
thing to  warrant  it.  Grass  which  is  manured  with  soot 
assumes  a  brighter  green,  and  is  much  relished  by  cattle. 
At  one  time  it  was  exported  to  the  West  India  sugar  planta- 
tions \  and  besides  being  applied  to  the  soil,  it  is  used  for 
the  manufacture  of  the  brown  colour  called  bistre,  and  for 
the  colouring  matter  of  paper-hangings.  Wood-soot  is  said 
to  be  useful  in  hysteria  and  whooping-cough. 

If  we  cannot  at  present  collect  and  make  use  of  the 
refuse  which  pollutes  the  air,  we  are  at  all  events  less 


298  THE    WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

helpless  in  the  matter  of  that  which  accumulates  in  the 
streets,  though  even  here  our  arrangements  are  far  from 
perfect. 

Street-dirt,  or  "  slop ';  as  it  is  technically  called,  when 
drained  of  its  moisture,  is  sent  off  in  barges  to  the  brick- 
makers,  who  live  a  few  miles  out  of  London.  They  pay 
nothing  for  it,  and  even  receive  it  carriage  free,  because 
the  contractor  is  obliged  to  get  rid  of  it  in  one  way  or 
another,  and  there  is  no  one  on  the  spot  to  take  it  off 
his  hands,  though  in  the  country  the  farmers  would  be 
glad  to  pay  for  it  and  fetch  it  at  their  own  expense,  to  put 
on  the  fields.  Most  of  the  street  manure  is  now  separated 
from  the  other  sweepings,  being  collected  by  boys  who 
dodge  in  and  out  among  the  horses  and  vehicles  with  great 
agility. 

But  of  all  people  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  the  most 
thrifty  in  the  matter  of  dealing  with  refuse  certainly  seem 
to  be  the  Chinese,  who  waste  not  a  scrap  of  any  sort,  and 
cultivate  every  inch  of  ground,  as,  indeed,  they  have  every 
need  to  do  considering  the  millions  for  whom  they  have  to 
provide  food.  Thrifty  they  are,  but  nice  they  are  not,  either 
in  the  original  or  acquired  meaning  of  the  word,  at  least  in 
European  eyes  ;  and  the  odours  which  pervade  their  towns 
are  terrible.  They  have  no  drains,  and  sewage  and  filth  of 
all  descriptions,  together  with  every  bit  of  organic  matter, 
which  cannot  be  used  for  food,  even  by  a  Chinaman,  are 
put  into  the  large  tubs  which  stand  along  each  side  of  the 
streets,  at  intervals  of  a  few  feet.  The  contents  are  used 
for  manuring  the  fields,  and  no  Chinaman,  it  is  said,  thinks 
of  returning  home  from  an  expedition  to  the  town  without 


HUMAN  HAIR.  299 

filling  the  buckets  which  he  carries  slung  at  each  end  of 
a  bamboo. 

Chinese  barbers  sell  the  hair  of  which  they  relieve 
their  customers  for  manure ;  and  a  celebrated  London 
barber  told  Mr.  Buckland  that,  though  now  obliged  to  burn 
the  cuttings  of  hair  to  get  rid  of  them,  when  he  was  an 
apprentice  in  a  country  town  the  sweepings  of  the  shop 
were  allowed  to  him  as  his  perquisite,  and  he  was  in  the 
habit  of  selling  them  at  sixpence  a  bushel  to  a  farmer, 
who  said  that  the  land  thus  manured  with  hair  required 
nothing  more  for  three  years.  In  London,  where  people 
keep  their  hair  short,  it  would  take  a  long  time  to  collect 
a  bushel  of  clippings,  but  country  customers  often  have 
long  locks  to  part  with. 

Human  hair,  by-the-bye,  is  the  strongest  fibre  known, 
and  a  rope  made  of  it  was  shown  in  the  Japanese  court 
of  the  International  Exhibition  of  1862. 

The  finest  tresses  used  by  hairdressers  for  making  up 
into  plaits,  wigs,  &c.,  come  from  the  sisterhoods,  and  Paris 
seems  to  be  the  headquarters  of  the  trade,  as  much  as 
i4o,ooolbs.  being  sold  there  in  the  year.  Many  years  ago 
pedlars,  who  went  about  the  country  in  larger  numbers 
than  they  do  now,  were  in  the  habit  of  buying  up  hair, 
and  have  induced  many  a  village  lass  to  part  with  her 
beautiful  locks  for  a  trifle.  One  girl  we  know  of  allowed 
her  luxuriant  golden  hair  to  be  shorn  off  close  to  her  head, 
and  was  satisfied  to  receive  in  return  a  brass  thimble  and 
a  reel  of  cotton  !  In  these  days,  or  rather  a  few  years  ago 
such  hair  would  have  been  worth  a  good  deal. 

But  to  return  to  the  subject  of  manure.     Dried  hop- 


300  THE    WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 

bines  are  found  useful  for  this  purpose,  as  indeed  one  would 
expect,  and  the  "  shells  "  of  crabs  and  lobsters,  which  accu- 
mulate in  regular  mountains  where  the  canning  business 
is  carried  on,  are  ground  to  powder  and  applied  to  the  soil 
with  some  success. 

Better  than  lobster-shells,  however,  is  the  refuse  of  the 
fish-trade,  large  quantities  of  which  are  at  present  wasted, 
and  might  be  had  for  the  mere  cost  of  collecting,  as  it  is 
of  little  or  no  value.  In  cleaning  cod  for  salting  and  drying, 
at  least  one  half  of  the  weight  of  the  fish  is  thrown  away, 
to  be  food  either  for  the  gulls  and  other  birds  attendant 
on  the  fishermen,  or  for  other  fishes  if  thrown  back  into  the 
sea;  and  as  the  French  and  Americans  alone  catch  some 
three  million  hundredweights  of  cod  between  them,  the 
refuse  must  be  enormous. 

At  least  50,000  tons  of  animal  matter  must  remain,  too, 
after  the  seals  have  been  deprived  of  their  oil  and  skins. 
On  some  of  the  North  American  coasts  the  offal  is  simply 
burnt  or  thrown  into  the  water  as  food  for  the  bait-fish. 

Some  years  ago  even  the  livers  of  the  cod  were  of  next 
to  no  value  in  Newfoundland,  the  people  not  having  the 
necessary  appliances  for  extracting  the  oil.  But  the  arrival 
of  Mr.  Fox,  an  English  chemist,  soon  caused  them  to  rise 
in  price,  and  he  also  made  known  the  value  of  the  heads 
which  till  then  had  been  thrown  into  the  sea  or  upon  the 
manure-heap.  Mr.  Fox  obtained  from  them  a  large 
quantity  of  superior  isinglass  as  well  as  glue. 

At  the  Exhibition  of  1862  M.  Rohart  showed  samples  of 
fish  manure  from  the  Loffoden  Isles,  where  he  had  collected 
heads  and  backbones,  formerly  wasted,  and  after  drying  them 


QUEEN'S  TOBACCO-PIPE.  301 

on  the  rocks  in  the  wind,  and  subjecting  them  to  other 
processes,  had  reduced  them  to  powder.  He  had  also 
bought  up  the  half-used  livers,  extracted  the  remainder  of 
the  oil,  and  converted  the  residue  into  manure. 

Boatloads  of  fish  are  often  sold  to  put  on  the  land 
at  places  on  the  coast,  when  the  "take"  happens  to  be 
unusually  large,  and  there  is  no  other  more  remunerative 
market  for  it. 

Among  the  various  kinds  of  refuse  used  as  manure 
must  be  mentioned  the  damaged  goods  confiscated  at 
many  of  the  docks,  which  are  buried  until  partly  rotten 
before  they  are  sold  for  this  purpose.  At  the  London 
Docks,  however,  the  goods  are  burnt  and  reduced  to 
ashes,  many  tons  of  which  are  sold  to  the  farmer.  In 
the  centre  of  these  docks  a  fire  is  kept  burning  night  and 
day,  its  chimney  being  known  as  the  "  Queen's  tobacco- 
pipe,"  and  here  are  consumed  all  condemned  goods,  some 
of  them  damaged  and  unfit  for  food,  but  many  of  such 
value  that  it  is  deeply  to  be  regretted  that  some  more 
rational  method  of  disposing  of  them  has  not  been  devised. 

Great  loads  of  tobacco  and  cigars  are  burnt  from 
time  to  time,  and  a  similar  fate  on  one  occasion  befel 
thirteen  thousand  pairs  of  French  gloves,  while  on  another 
nine  hundred  Australian  mutton-hams  were  condemned 
to  the  flames.  These  hams  had  been  warehoused  on  their 
arrival,  in  the  expectation  that  the  duty  on  them  would 
shortly  be  taken  off,  but  they  had  to  wait  so  long  that 
they  became  damaged,  and  were  condemned  as  unfit  for 
food.  No  doubt  their  ashes  helped  to  enrich  the  fields, 
but  the  hams  might  have  fed  a  large  number  of  people, 


302  THE    WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

so  that  we  can  look  at  their  consumption  in  this  way  only 
as  a  very  wasteful  proceeding.  Even  in  their  damaged  state 
some  were  perfectly  eatable,  and  many  a  slice  was  eaten  by 
the  man  in  charge  of  the  furnace. 

Tea  is  now  seldom  burnt,  having  once  set  the  chimney 
on  fire ;  but  cargoes  of  tea  are  sometimes  condemned. 
Any  one  walking  down  the  Mahloo  road  in  Shanghai 
will  see,  on  either  side,  trays  of  old  tea-leaves  drying  in 
the  sun,  and  exposed,  not  only  to  the  dust,  but  to  the 
attentions  ot  the  pigs,  dogs,  and  children,  which  play  and 
walk  about  among  them.  Many  tons  of  this  "  Mahloo 
mixture,"  as  it  is  called,  are  made  and  exported,  and  some 
of  it  is  occasionally  seized  in  London,  and  properly  con- 
demned, for  no  one  but  the  consignees  could  possibly 
grudge  it  to  the  fields. 

No  doubt  the  waste  from  tomato-canning  went  for 
manure  until  an  enterprising  American  conceived  the  idea 
of  turning  it  into  tomato  catsup,  from  which  he  realises 
handsome  profits,  as  he  pays  nothing  for  his  material.  The 
wholesale  houses  are,  no  doubt,  glad  to  be  rid  of  it,  and 
to  them  he  sends  clean  tubs  to  receive  all  the  skins  and 
parings.  The  tubs  are  removed  every  day,  and  the  con- 
tents ground  up,  fermented,  and  flavoured. 

Jute  refuse  is  another  of  the  substances  formerly  con- 
sidered fit  only  to  rot  and  be  applied  to  the  soil,  whereas 
now  it  is  mixed  with  flax,  hemp,  and  silk,  and  made  into 
excellent  paper.  And  a  somewhat  similar  history  may 
be  told  of  the  cotton-seed,  which  was  left  to  form  offensive 
accumulations  in  some  places,  and  in  others  given  in  small 
quantities  to  the  cattle,  or  simply  thrown  away,  or  used 


COTTON  REFUSE.  303 

as  manure.  "Throwing  away"  and  "using  as  manure" 
are  terms,  by-the-bye,  which  very  often,  though  not  always, 
mean  the  same  thing  in  the  end ;  but  the  cotton-seed 
had  a  future  before  it,  and  what  was  a  nuisance  in  1824 
was  valuable  property  some  years  later;  for  in  1881 
it  was  imported  by  England  to  the  amount  of  232,199 
tons,  the  value  of  which  was  ,£1,783,109.  It  had  been 
discovered,  in  the  meantime,  that  cotton-seed  could  be 
made  to  yield  nineteen  per  cent,  of  almost  black  oil,  and 
that  the  residue  made  good  "  cake "  for  cattle.  When 
refined,  the  oil  is  not  inferior  to  fine  colza,  and  is  worth 
£29  a  ton,  but  increases  yet  farther  in  value  after  it  has 
made  another  journey,  this  time  to  the  olive-growing 
districts  of  the  South  of  Europe,  where  it  is  "  doctored," 
and  then  re-shipped  to  England  as  "  pure  olive  oil."  Being 
almost  tasteless,  as  well  as  nearly  colourless,  it  is  largely 
used  for  frying  fish,  packing  sardines,  &c.  The  inferior  part 
of  the  oil  yields  hard  grease,  or  stearine,  which  is  employed 
for  soap-making,  and  the  husk  of  the  seed  is  useful  in  paper- 
making,  as  well  as  for  "  cake." 

Cotton-stalks  are  now  turned  to  much  better  account 
than  formerly,  a  manufacturer  of  Brooklyn,  New  York, 
having  perfected  and  patented  a  machine  for  reducing  to 
fibre  any  material  of  a  fibrous  nature.  This  machine  is 
now  extensively  worked  in  New  York,  and  the  cotton- 
stalk  fibre,  originally  intended  for  bagging,  is  now  found 
to  be  much  too  valuable,  and,  being  almost  like  hemp, 
is  used  for  better  materials. 

The  waste  thrown  out  by  the  machine — the  sticks  and 
chips  from  the  stalk— is  more  valuable  as  pulp  for  the 


304  THE    WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

manufacture  of  paper  than  any  other  substance  yet  dis- 
covered^ and  when  mixed  with  cotton-seed  makes  nourishing 
food  for  cattle,  or  good  manure. 

In  America,  no  doubt,  the  supply  of  cotton-stalks  is 
abundant,  but  in  Europe  it  would  be  a  great  boon  to  the 
manufacturers  could  they  find  some  fibre  which  might  be 
used  with  or  instead  of  flax,  and  attempts  are  being  made 
in  Germany  to  utilise  the  nettle  for  this  purpose. 

"Nettle  cloth"  is  still  the  German  name  for  muslin, 
and  nettle  fibre  was  largely  used  in  the  olden  days,  before 
the  introduction  of  cotton,  as  witness  the  nettle  linen  sheets 
and  tablecloths  used  in  Scotland  early  in  the  present 
century,  and  mentioned  by  the  poet  Campbell.  What  has 
been  done  once  may  be  done  again,  and  if  manufacturers 
could  be  found  to  buy  the  fibre  or  stalks,  no  doubt  many 
a  waste  piece  of  ground  might  be  made  to  grow  nettles  with 
advantage,  for  it  is  a  crop  which  requires  little  care,  and 
is  said  never  to  fail. 

Cotton-waste,  which  used  to  be  employed  for  paper- 
making,  is  now  made  into  wadding,  lamp  wicks,  common 
carpets,  and  twine,  it  is  also  used  for  cleaning  machinery, 
and  is  no  longer  burnt  or  thrown  away,  even  after  it  has 
served  this  purpose,  as  was  formerly  the  case,  for  it  has 
been  found  possible  to  clean  it,  and  both  the  cotton  and 
the  dirty  oil,  with  which  it  is  saturated,  may  be  used  again. 

The  lubricating  oil  used  for  machinery  is  also  now 
regularly  collected  and  cleaned.  While  on  the  subject  of 
oil,  we  may  mention  that  petroleum  casks  are  collected  by 
costermongers  at  4d.  a-piece  from  the  oil-shops,  taken  to 
the  water-side,  and  sold  for  re-shipment  to  America. 


GRAPE  SKINS  AND  ORANGE  PEEL.  305 

Among  the  other  waste  products  from  which  oil  is  obtained 
may  be  mentioned  grape  seeds,  which,  though  for  the  most 
part  still  wasted,  have  been  long  used  for  this  purpose  in 
Italy,  the  Levant,  and  part  of  Germany.  Two  casks  of 
seeds  yield  thirty-three  pounds  of  oil,  which  when  purified 
is  equal  to  olive,  while  the  residue  makes  good  soap,  and 
the  refuse  of  the  seeds  is  used  as  fuel.  The  seeds  are  also 
valuable  for  fining  and  strengthening  wine. 

Argol,  a  crude  variety  of  cream  of  tartar,  which  forms 
a  crust  in  wine-vats  and  bottles,  is  also  obtained  from 
grape  skins  and  refuse  grapes,  and  from  it  is  made  tartaric 
acid,  which  is  largely  used  in  calico-printing,  as  well  as  for 
making  lemonade.  When  the  argol  has  been  extracted  the 
remaining  refuse  is  made  to  yield  gas  and  coke. 

But  there  are  still  other  sources  of  oil  which  must 
not  be  passed  over.  Orange  peel — of  which  enormous 
quantities  are  wasted,  i.e.,  cleared  away  with  the  street- 
sweepings — contains  much  oil,  which  is  easily  expressed,  and 
often  used  for  making  soap  and  scent.  At  some  of  the 
theatres  and  music-halls,  where  oranges  are  largely  consumed 
by  the  audience,  the  peel  is  collected  and  sold. 

Sawdust  also  yields  oil,  as  well  as  spirit,  oxalic  acid, 
charcoal,  and  potash ;  and  from  the  oil  and  potash  together, 
soap  is  obtained.  Immense  quantities  of  sawdust  are  pro- 
duced in  the  great  saw-mills  of  the  United  States,  Canada,  and 
Norway ;  and  except  being  used  for  packing,  for  sprinkling 
floors,  and  for  smoking  fish,  as  litter  for  horses,  and  for  mixing 
with  fish  refuse  as  manure,  nothing  more  used  to  be  done 
with  it.  The  sawdust  is,  however,  much  more  valuable,  now 
that  the  various  substances  above  mentioned  can  be  produced 
u 


306  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

from  it,  and  at  one  mill  in  Norway  two  horses  are  constantly 
employed  in  removing  it.  From  9  cwts.  of  sawdust,  over  19 \ 
per  cent,  of  grape  sugar  is  obtained,  and  from  this  brandy  is 
manufactured.  But  the  Paris  cabinet-makers  have  invented 
a  way  of  using  the  sawdust  itself.  By  subjecting  it  to  enor- 
mous pressure  and  intense  heat  they  convert  it  into  a  solid 
mass,  which  can  take  a  brilliant  surface,  and  which  they  call 
bois  durci,  or  tough  wood. 

The  dust  of  mahogany,  birch,  and  rosewood,  is  used  for 
cleaning    and    dressing   furs ;   boxwood-dust    for    cleaning 
jewellery ;  and  the  shavings  made  in  the  shaping  of  cedar 
pencils  yield  otto  of  cedarwood,  in  the  proportion  of  28- 
ounces  to  the  hundredweight. 

The  dust  made  by  ivory-turners  is  sold  at  sixpence  a 
pound,  and  when  boiled  down  makes  the  finest  and  purest 
animal  jelly.  Ivory-dust  jelly  was  at  one  time  a"  fashionable 
remedy  in  cases  of  weakness,  and  Mr.  Buckland  was  of 
opinion  that  it  only  needed  to  be  tried  to  convince  people 
of  its  virtues.  There  is  at  all  events  nothing  objection- 
able about  it,  which,  is  more  than  can  be  said  for  the 
"  red-currant "  jelly  which  as  well  as  rum,  the  Americans 
are  declared  to  fabricate  from  old  boots  ! 

Dye-wood  residues — that  is,  wood  shavings  from  which 
the  best  of  the  dye  has  been  extracted — give  a  solution 
which  is  useful  for  tanning  and  also  to  a  certain 
extent  for  dyeing ;  but  the  insoluble  remainder  was  worth 
but  a  few  shillings  a  ton,  and  was  in  most  cases  thrown 
away — the  only  use  to  which  it  could  be  put  being  to  burn 
as  fuel  when  mixed  with  tar-refuse — until  a  French  chemist 
began  to  convert  it  into  paper  pulp. 


BREWERS'  REFUSE.  '    307 

Rough  kinds  of  grey  and  brown  paper  are  also  made 
from  the  shoots  of  hops  left  after  the  cutting  down  of  the 
bines  ;  dried  hop-bines  are  a  valuable  manure,  and  even  the 
spent  hops,  those  which  have  been  used  in  the  making  of 
beer,  are  found,  when  dried,  to  make  good  litter,  and  are 
said  to  improve  the  health  of  the  horses. 

The  rest  of  the  brewer's  refuse,  namely  the  spent  malt, 
called  "  draff"  or  "  dreg/'  being  more  than  the  cows  could 
eat,  was  in  Edinburgh  thrown  into  the  Leith,  until  an 
outcry  was  raised  against  the  practice,  when  the  brewers 
found  that  by  pressing  the  "draff"  into  cake  they  could 
sell  it  to  farmers  at  a  distance,  and  put  £60  a  week  in  their 
own  pockets.  During  the  cattle  plague,  however,  it  was 
again  thrown  on  their  hands,  and  for  a  while  they  paid  to 
get  rid  of  it,  until  it  was  found  that  by  drying,  it  could  be 
converted  into  good  food  for  horses. 

Glycerine  is  another  of  the  now  valuable  waste  products 
once  looked  upon  as  worse  than  useless,  and  thrown  away. 
It  is  contained  in  most  oils  and  fats,  both  animal  and 
vegetable,  and  is  formed  during  the  process  of  soap- 
making.  It  is  now  largely  used  in  medicine,  for  the  pro- 
duction of  syrups,  &c.,  for  extracting  perfumes,  making 
confectionery,  and  as  a  preserver.  In  the  United  States 
it  is  also  used  for  charging  gas-meters,  two  million  pounds 
being  thus  consumed  annually. 

In  conclusion,  a  few  words  must  be  devoted  to 
metal-refuse,  and  as  the  fashion  of  wearing  crinoline 
periodically  threatens  to  become  general,  we  may  begin  by 
mentioning  that  crinoline-steels  are  an  awkward  kind  of  re- 
fuse, with  which  no  one  cares  to  deal.  The  chiffoimicrs  reject 


308  THE    WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

them,  the  dustmen  do  not  like  them,  and  when  the  fashion 
was  declining  some  years  ago  it  is  said  that  numbers  were 
thrown  into  the  streets  of  New  York  and  other  towns, 
where  they  were  not  only  a  nuisance,  but  dangerous,  both 
to  foot-passengers  and  horses.  Yet  enormous  quantities  of 
steel  must  be  used  in  their  manufacture,  and  this,  of 
course,  could  be  melted  down. 

The  monument  to  Horace  Greeley,  the  founder  of  the 
New  York  Tribune,  is  cast  out  of  many  thousands  of 
pounds  of  old  type,  contributed  by  the  printers  of  the 
United  States. 

The  scrap  iron,  or  rather  steel,  left  over  from  needle 
making,  being  of  the  finest  quality,  is  used  for  making 
gun-barrels  ;  the  waste  from  the  steel  pens  made  in  Bir- 
mingham is  sold  to  Sheffield,  at  £10  a  ton  (the  original 
price  having  been  ^50  or  ^60),  and  is  there  re-melted. 
Steel  filings  are  bought  by  chemists  for  the  manufacture 
of  steel- wine. 

Old  ship's  copper  and  copper-scraps  of  all  kinds  are 
first  converted  into  oxide  by  heat,  and  then  dissolved  in 
sulphuric  acid,  forming  sulphate  of  copper,  which  crystallises 
in  large  blue  crystals,  and  is  commonly  known  as  blue 
vitriol,  which  is  largely  used  in  calico-printing  and  the 
manufacture  of  various  pigments,  such  as  Scheele's  green. 

Copper  pyrites,  or  sulphide  of  copper,  is  used  for  the 
same  purpose,  and  as  small  quantities  of  gold  and  silver 
are  frequently  associated  with  this  ore,  the  residue  from 
the  pyrites  kilns  in  vitriol  factories  is  found  to  yield  both 
these  metals  as  well  as  copper.  Gold  and  silver  to  the 
value  of  ,£3,232  have  been  obtained  from  16,300  tons. 


GOLD,  SILVER,  AND  STEEL.  309 

Silver  nitrate,  or  lunar  caustic,  as  it  is  called  when  cast 
into  sticks,  is,  as  is  well  known,  used  in  photography ; 
and  from  defective  pictures,  clippings,  sweepings,  and 
washings,  one  firm  has  recovered  two  bars  of  silver,  worth 

£44- 

A  carpet  which  covered  the  floor  of  one  of  the  rooms 
in  the  mint  of  San  Francisco  for  five  years  was,  when 
taken  up,  cut  in  small  pieces,  and  burnt  in  pans,  with 
the  result  that  its  ashes  yielded  gold  and  silver  to  the 
value  of  2,500  dollars. 

From  the  silver  found  on  the  copper-sheathing  of  a 
ship  it  has  been  calculated  that  there  must  be  about 
200,000,000  tons  dissolved  in  the  waters  of  the  ocean  ; 
while  of  gold  it  is  thought  there  must  be  one  grain  in 
every  ton  of  water.  Both  these  metals  must,  we  suppose, 
have  been  carried  into  the  sea  by  the  rivers,  but  no  practical 
way  of  recovering  them  has  been  invented. 

We  have  already  noticed  the  large  number  of  particles 
of  steel  and  iron  in  the  dust  of  railway  carriages;  but 
though  less  obvious,  there  must  also  be  great  quantities 
in  the  dust  of  our  streets,  worn  from  wheel-tires,  horse- 
shoes, and  the  nails  in  our  boots.  Some  day,  perhaps, 
it  will  be  found  possible  and  profitable  to  extract  this 
metal,  before  the  mud  is  sent  off  to  farmers  and  brick- 
makers. 

In  smelting  impure  ore  some  other  mineral  is  melted 
with  it,  to  form  what  is  called  a  flux.  Thus  iron  ore 
is  melted  with  limestone,  and  the  lime  combining  with  the 
silica  of  the  ore,  sets  the  iron  free.  The  silicate  of  lime 
thus  produced  is  called  slag,  and  great  hills  of  it  are  often 


310  THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 

to  be  seen  in  the  neighbourhood  of  smelting  furnaces. 
Sometimes  it  is  crushed  and  used  for  concrete  walls,  but 
large  quantities — now  lying  idle — might  be  employed  for 
making  bye-roads,  for  foundations,  macadamising,  and  as 
railway  ballast. 

Of  late,  however,  it  has  been  applied  to  a  novel  purpose. 
Air  is  blown  into  it  while  it  is  in  a  molten  state,  and 
the  effect  is  to  draw  it  out  into  exceedingly  fine  fibres,  as 
fine  as  the  finest  spun  glass,  and  as  soft  as  cotton.  It  is, 
in  fact,  a  species  of  glass,  though  no  one  would  guess  it 
from  its  original  appearance,  and  it  is  used  for  covering 
boilers. 

In  the  Sandwich  Islands  the  birds  make  their  nests  ot 
a  similar  substance,  made  not  by  any  artificial  means, 
but  by  the  great  volcano,  Manna,  which  churns  its 
molten  lava  so  violently  that  the  spray  is  dashed  high 
in  the  air,  and,  cooling  as  it  falls,  forms  threads  of  fine- 
spun green  glass,  called  by  the  natives  "  Pele's  hair,"  which 
drifts  away  with  the  wind,  and  hrn^s  in  masses  about 
the  trees  and  rocks. 


INDEX. 


Acids,  93,  161,  172,  173,  178,  295 

Adelsberg  caves,  61 

Air,  a  mixture,  29  ;  dust  in,  18  ; 
effect  on  rocks,  28  ;  vitiated,  164, 
165  ;  purification  of,  170,  173 

AldalDra,  100 

Algae,  10 

Alkali,  161,  295 

Almonds,  Oil  of,  293 

Alumina,  118 

Aluminium,  117 

Amazons  river,  14,  55,  60,  185,  210 

Amber,  193 

Ammonia,  173,  254,  297 

Andes,  78,  105 

Aniline,  293 

Anthracite,  189 

Ants,  102,  207,  208 — 210,  213 

Antwerp,  Refuse  of,  294 

Arctic  glaciers,  69;  ocean,  164;  re- 
gions, 9 

Argala,  242 

Argol,  305 

Ashes,  301,  309 

Ash  of  plants,  98,  256  ;  volcanoes, 
83-84 

Asphalt,  190 

Atlantic,  23,  138,  146,  147 

Atlantis,  106 

Atolls,  134 

Aura  vulture,  236 

Aveyros,  210 

Azores,  87-8 

Bacteria,  18,  177 

"  Bad  Lands,"  118 — 9 

Baku,  192 

Bamboo,  98 

Bank  notes,  Paper  for,  281 

Barbadoes  earth,  154 

Bath  brick,  155 

Bath  springs,  88 


Beech  forest,  169  ;  wood,  194 

Beetroot,  98,  172 

Beetles,  202 ;  burying,  216 — 8 ;  cock- 
tail, 221  ;  dung,  222 

Bell  rock,  133 

Berlin,  155 

Bermudas,  62,  132,  137,  141,  143 

Big  "Muddy,"  50 

Birds'  feet,  103  ;  nests,  225 

Birds,  Scavenger,  231 — 243 

Bitter  beer,  2 

Bizcacha,  211 

Blacklead,  166,  193 

Black  shales,  188 

Blanc,  Mont,  26 

Bleaching,  295 

Blotting  paper,  280 

Blow-fly,  215 

Blue  marl,  194  ;  limestone,  194 
|    Bombs  burst  by  ice  and  steam,  24 
|    Bones,  271,  288 

Bone-black,  289 

Booby,  213 

Boots,  286—7,  3°6 

Bottles,  288 

Bramah  kites,  242 

Brazil,  glaciers,  71 ;  rain,  46  ;  rocks, 

122 

Breathing,  165  ;  of  plants,  169 
Breeze,  285 
Brewers'  refuse,  307 
Bronze  period,  265 
Burrowing  animals,  101—2 
Bursting  of  pipes,  24 

California,  10 
Cameos,  127 
Camphor,  173 
Canidae,  248 
Canons,  53 

;    Canterbury  water,  36 
Cape  of  Good  Hope,  76,  113 


3I2 


THE    WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 


Caracara,  240 

Carbonates  of  lime,  etc.,  33,  35 

Carbolic  acid,  178,  293 

Carbon  dioxide,  (  29,  33,  35,  61,  94, 

Carbonic  acid,     (      165 — 8,  176 

Carpets,  304,  309 

Carrancha,  240 

Carrion-crow,  237 

Carrion-eaters,  206,  227 

Casks,  304 

Caspian,  192 

Casts,  257 

Caterpillars,  175,  204 

Cats,  250 

Cat-skins,  285 

Cauto  tree,  98 

Cave-dwellers,  262 

Caves,  Limestone,  61 

Cellulose,  171 — 2 

Cereals,  173 

Ceylon,  107,  206,  268 

Chalk,  138,  147 

Chandala,  268 

Chara,  145 

Cheshire  salt,  162 

Chiffonniers,  268 — 274 

Chile,  294 

Chimango,  241 

China  clay,  120 

Chinchilla,  103 

Chinese  barber,  299  ;  towns,  298 

Chlorides,  159,  296 

Chlorophyll,  170 

Choke-damp,  189 

Cigar  ends,  271 

Cinders,  285,  294 

Clay,  117,  120 

Cliffs,  Hudson,  26  ;  wear  of,  40 

Cloaks,  278 

Clock  beetle,  224 

Clothes,  Old,  275—8 

Club-moss,  186 

Coal,     19,    184 — 9  ;    Borneo,    188 ; 

tar,  292 ;    seaweed,    186 ;    white, 

188 

Cockroach,  209 
Cod  livers,  300 
Colorado  river,  51 
Colza,  169 
Condor,  233 
Convolvulus,  107 
Copal,  194 
Copper,  308  ;  pyrites,  294 


Coprolites,  255 

Coral,  polyps,  129  ;  reefs,  132 — 5 

Cork-eaters,  203 

Corks,  286 

Cosmic  dust,  7 

Cotopaxi,  84 

Cotton  seed,  302  ;  waste,  304 

Crabs,  228—30  ;  shells,  300 

Cresses,  97 

Crinoline  steels,  307 

Crows,  237 

Crustaceans,  228 

Crystallisation,  144,  192 

Cypress  swamps,  182 — 3 

Daddy  Longbeard,  234 

Danube  river,  56,  58,  63,  161 

Death-watch,  203 

Delta,  Nile,  55  ;  Mississippi,  183 

Desert,     Africa,     14,     41  ;      Gobi, 

108 

"  Devil's  "  dust,  280 
Diablerets,  45 
Diamond,  192 
DiatomaQese,  14,  103,  154 
Disease  germs,  178 
Dogs,  245 
Dolomites,  145 
Drift-wood,  201 
Drought,  160,  252 
Duck,  243  ;  weed,  171 
Dust,    i — 3,    5,   7,   21  ;    cosmic,   7  ; 

"Devil's,"    280;    in   air,    18 ;    in 

water,  22  ;  volcanic,  85  ;  -women, 

286  ;  -yards,  i,  285 
Dye-wood  residues,  306 
Dynamite,  156 

Earthquakes,  80;  waves,  82—5 
Eels,  231 

Egyptian  vulture,  234 — 5 
Electric  light,  16,  20 
Electro-silicon,  155 
Elephant,  Dead,  215,  252 
Encrinites,  142 
Eruptions,  12,  84 

Falkland  Islands,  45,  182 
Falling  stars,  7 
Felspar,  33,  34,  no 
Fermentation,  18,  176 
Ferns,  17 
Fire-damp,  189 


INDEX. 


313 


Firs,  173  ;  Scotch,  98;  petrified,  78 
Fish    manure,    30x3 ;    scales,     251  ; 

trade,  300 
Fjords,  70 
Flies,  204,  213 — 5 
Flints,  28,  60,  148 
Flint  froth,  155 
Floating     bricks,     156 ;     ice,     63  ; 

matter  of  air,  15 
Floods,  50,  252 
Flowers,  Artificial,  280 
Flue,  4 

Fog,  19;  red,  13 
Fool's  gold,  30 
Foot-bridge,  28 
Foraminifera,  139 
Fossils,  256 
Frost,  24 

Fulmar  petrel,  231 
Fungi,  spores,  17,  174—6 

Gallinazo,  238 

Ganges  river,  56 

Gases  from  coal,  189  ;  diffusion  of, 

168 

Geneva,  Lake,  265 
Giant's  causeway,  31 
Giant  kelp,  158 
Glacial  Period,  71 

Glaciers,  66  ;  -flea,  n  ;  streams,  69 
Glass,  broken,  271,  287  ;    dissolved, 

32;    etching,   37;    making,   no; 

natural,  no  ;  -rope  sponge,  150 
Gneiss,  121 
Goats,  252 
Gobi,  desert,  108 
Granite,    26,    34,    120,    121  ;    hills, 

1 06 

Grape  seeds,  305  ;  skins,  305 
Grasses,  98,  197 
Great  Dismal  Swamp,  182 
Great  Salt  Lake,  161 
Greenland  fjords,  70 
Green  slates,  117 
Griffon  claw,  259 
Grip-claws,  259 
Ground  pine,  186 
Guanaco,  252 
Guano,  253 
Gulf  weed,  158 
Gulls,  231 
Guttapercha,  173 
Glycerine,  307 


Hailstones,  19 

Hair,  299 

Hairs,  Nettle,  98 

Halles  Centrales,  Paris,  289—291 

Harmattan,  14 

Hats,  Old,  278 

Hedgehogs,  245 

Hemp,  98 

Hops,  98  ;  oil  of,  178 

Hop-bines,  299,  307 

Hornets,  218 

Horse-chestnut,  97 

Horse-tails,  98 

Hot  springs,  87 — 9 

Hudson  river  cliffs,  26 

Humboldt  glacier,  73 

Humic  acids,  101 

Hydrochloric  acid,  295 

Ice,   25  ;     anchor,   76 ;   -dust,    10  ; 

floating,  63  ;  ground,  64 
Icebergs,  72 — 6 
Ice-cap,  71 

India-rubber,  156,  173 
Infusoria,  151 — 3 
Iron,  24  ;  galvanised,  30  ;  old,  289  ; 

pyrites,   194 ;  required  by  plants, 

170 
Ivory,  244,  259 

Jackal,  248 
apan,  82,  198 
argonelle  pear,  293 
ava,  eruption,  12 

et,  193 
_,orullo,  87 
Jura,  141,  194 
Jute,  302 

Kamptulikon,  286 
Kaolin,  120 
Kauri  pine,  193 
Kelp,  159  ;  giant,  158 
Kettles,  Fur  in,  36  ;  old,  289 
King  of  vultures,  236 
Kite,  241 — 2 
Kitthvake,  231 
Krakatoa,  12,  84 
Kryokonit,  10 

Lake-dwellers,  263  ;  of  lava,  86 
Lammergeier,  233 
Landes,  106 


3*4 


THE   WORLD'S  LUMBER  ROOM. 


Landslips,  44  —  6 

Larvae,  214 

Laurel,  173 

Leaf-green,  170  ;  -mould,  182 

Lichens,  91  —  3,  99 

Lignite,  188 

Limestone,  35  ;  caves,  260 

Lobster,  228  ;  shells,  300 

Loire  river,  125 

Longmynd,  114,  123 

Lungs,  black,  21 

Lupins,  96 


Madagascar,  132 

Madeira,  5 

Magic  brilliant,  155 

Magnesia,  145 

Magnesian  limestone,  94 

Magpie,  237 

Mahloo  mixture,  302 

Maidenhair,  99 

Malt,  307 

Mammoth,  258;  Cave,  62;  springs, 

QQ 
OO 

Mangroves,  100,  185 

Manures,  253  —  6 

Marble,  94,  141  —  4 

Marcasite,  30 

Marl,  101,  256  ;  blue,  194 

Marmots,  102 

Mediterranean,  55,  162,  163 

Medusae,  156 

Meteorites,  7  ;  meteoric  dust,  7 

Mildew,  18 

Minerals  in  plants,  94 

Mines,  Depth  of,  79 

Mississippi     river,     55  —  6  ;     delta, 

183 

Missouri  river,  50 
Mist,  1  8 
Moles,  102,  103 
Mollusks,  Boring,  103  ;  largest,  128  ; 

wing-footed,  157 
Moraines,  68,  72 
Mosaics,  287 
Mosses,  92 
Motes,  20 
Moths,  226 
Mould,  18,  176 
Mountain-meal,  155 
Mud,  113 
Mushrooms,  100 


Naphthaline,  293 
|    Nettles,  304  ;  acid  of,  173  ;  hairs  of, 

98 

Nile,  55.  56 
Nitrogen,  29.  173,  174 
Noctiluca,  156 
Noddy,  213 
Norway,  Rise  of,  77 
Nova  Scotia,  155 
Nullipora,  137 
Nut  tree,  100 

Oak,  t,8 

Ohio  shales,  188 

Oils,  172  ;  cotton-seed,  303  ;  grape, 
305  ;  hop,  178  ;  lubricating,  304  ; 
orange-peel,  305 ;  rock,  191 

Ooze,  Atlantic,  138 

Opals,  156 
:    Orinoco,  14,  191 
!    Osite,  254 

Oxalic  acid,  93 

Oxygen,  29 
;    Oyster-shells,  125 

i  Paper,  280  ;  brown,  281  ;  making, 
282  ;  statistics,  282  ;  tracing,  281  ; 
waste,  283 

Papier-macht,  284 

Paraftine,  293 

Paris,  269 

Patagonia,  40  ;  fjords,  70  ;  glaciers, 

7i 

Pearls,  127 

Pebbles,  55 
;    Pelt's  hair,  310 

Penguins,  103 

Pepper,  173 

Perfumes,  173 

|    Pernambuco,  71  ;  reef,  136 
j    Peru,  238,  254 

Petrels,  103,  231 
I    Petrifaction,  180,  257 
i    Petrified  firs,  78 

Pholas,  104,  202 

Phosphorescence,  156 

Pines,  173 

Pipe,  Queen's  tobacco,  301 

Pitch  Lake,  190 

Plants,  Breathing  of,  169 — 170, 174 ; 
food  of,  94  ;  Ice,  10  ;  mechanical 
power,  24  ;  Snow,  10  ;  Water, 
171 


INDEX. 


315 


Plum-pudding  stone,  47 

Plymouth  breakwater,  104 

Polar  seas,  171 

Polishing  slate,  155 

Polycystinae,  153 

Polypody,  17 

Porcelain  clay,   120  ;   manufacture, 

120  — I 

Prions,  103 

Protozoa,  153  ;  food,  156,  201,  228 

Pteropoda,  157 

Pyrites,  iron,  30,  194  ;  copper,  294, 

308 
Pyrocistis,  156 

Quartz,  34,  112,  121 
Queen's  tobacco  pipe,  301 

Rabbits,  102 

Radiolaria,  153 

Rags,  271,  279 

Rails,  Paper,  284 

Railway    carriages,     dust    of,     5  ; 

wheels  of,  309 
Rain,  41,  46,  48 
Rainy  seasons,  50 
Raven,  237 — 8 
Red  currant  jelly,  306 
Red  fog,  13  ;  snow,  10 
Rhine,  22,  56,  57,  58,  126 
Rhone,  56,  59 
Richmond  earth,  155 
Rio  Negro,  185 
Rivers,  48,  49,   106  ;  Amazons,  14, 

55,  60,  185,  210  ;  Ambernoh,  201  ; 
Canadian,    54  ;      Colorado,    51  ; 
Danube,   56,   58,  63  ;    Elbe,    59  ; 
Green,     51  ;     Hudson,    26 ;     La 
Platte,  54 ;  Loire,  125  ;  Mora,  54  ; 
Po,    =6 ;    Poik,   62  ;    Rhine,    22, 

56.  57,   58  ;  Rhone,  56,  59  ;  Rio 
Negro,   185  ;   St.   Lawrence,  63  ; 
Severn,  60  ;  Siberian,  64  ;  Tapa- 
jos,  210  ;  Thames,  60 

Roches  moiitonne'es,  70 

Rocks,  cut  by  sand,  39  ;  of  Sahara, 

28 

Rooks,  235 
Roots,  94,  99 
Rope,  Old,  281 
Rose-beetle,  213 
Rotifer,  152 
Rottenstone,  iss 


Rum,  287,  306 

Running  water,  41,  44,  47,  48 — 62 

Rust,  29 

Sahara  rocks,  28 

St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  36  ;  rocks,  213, 

230 

St.  Vincent,  235 
Salt,  159,  160,  161 
Salts  in  sea,  159,  162 
Salviati,  in 
Sand-banks,    106  ;  -blast,    37,    39  ; 

-dunes,  106  ;  -hills,  106  ;  -hopper, 

228  ;  Ruby,  108  ;  uses  of,  109 
Sand-martin,  102 
Saratoga  springs,  33 
Sardine  cases,  271 
Sargasso,  158 
Saiiba  ants,  102 
Saucepans,  289 
Sawdust,  305 — 6 
Scarabasus,  223 
Scarlet  cloth,  277 
Scavengers,   Animal,    195    et    seq.  ; 

vegetable,  164  et  seq. 
Scavenging  in  the  East,  268 
Scents,  173 

Scrap  copper,  271  ;  iron,  308 
Sea,   Dust  of,  13  ;  -eggs,   129  ;   fir, 

230  ;  reed,  107  ;  salt,  159  ;  -water, 

124  ;  -weeds,  157—8,  186 
Sealing-wax,  156 
Shale,  115 
Sharks,  235 

Shell  heaps,  262  ;  sand,  256 
Shells,  127 
Shingle,  40 
Ship-wTorm,  201 
Shooting- stars,  7 
Shower,  41 

Siberia,  9,  64,  258,  259 
Silica,  34,  148 
Simple  substances,  29 
Sinai,  peninsula,  28 
Sirocco  dust,  13 
Skaptar,  12 
Skin-eaters,  219 
Skins,  286 
Skua  gull,  231 
Skull-caps,  277 
Slate,    115 ;   cleavage,   116 ;    spots, 

116 ;  quarries,  117 
Slates,  Green,  117 


THE    WORLDS  LUMBER  ROOM. 


Slugs,  205 

Smoke,  19 

Show,  crystals,  65 ;  plants,  10 ; 
Red,  10 

Soap,  156,  288,  294,  303,  305 

Soda  ash,  294  ;  compounds,  159 

Sodium  chloride,  160 

Soil,  6 

Soot,  296—7 

Spicules,  Sponge,  149,  150 

Spiders,  213  ;  -crab,  229 

Sponges,  148 

Spores,  17,  176 

Springs,  43—4 ;  hot,  89 

Stalactites,  6r,  62 

Stalagmites,  61,  260 

Steam,  18 

Steel,  307,  308 

Stellar  space,  20 

Stockings,  278 

Stone-lilies,  142 

Stone-meal,  70  ;  -rivers,  45  ;  Tri- 
poli, 155 

Stork,  242 

Straw  paper,  281 

Street  refuse,  269,  294,  298 

Suez,  Sand  at,  37 

Sugar,  172,  215 

Suint,  288 

Sulphate  of  lime,  94,  162 

Sulphur,  19.  30,  97,  296 

Sulphuric  acid,  159,  194,  294, 
308 

Sunlight,  20,  170 

Sunsets,  12 

Swamps,  182 — 3 

Tadpoles,  228 

Tapajos,  210 

Tartaric  acid,  172,  305 

Tea,  302 

Telegram,  Fumigated,  179 

Teredo,  200 

Termites,  195 

Thames,  60 

Tins,  271 

Tin  soldiers,  271  ;  ware,  289 

Tir-na-n-oge,  72 

Titmouse,  205 

Tobacco,  301 

Tomato-waste,  302 


Tonquin  bean,  293 

Tridacna,  128 

Trinidad,  98,  181,  209 

Tripoli  stone,  155 
I    Tuileries,  Sale  at,  275 

Tundras,  259 

!    Tunics  of  priests,  281  ;  of  soldiers, 
277 

Turkey  buzzard,  236,  239 

Turpentine,  173 

Turquoise,  257 

Tusks,  258,  259,  260 

Type,  308 

Univalves,  127 
Urchins,  Sea,  129 
Urubu,  238 
Uspallata  Pass,  78 

Vegetable  scavengers,  164  et  seq. 
Vegetation  of  Coal  Period,  185 
Venus's  flower-basket,  150 
Vitriol,  308 

Volcanic  islands,  86,  87 
Volcanoes,  83—88,    160  ;  ashes  of, 

84,   117;    dust  of,    ii,    84,    117; 

vapours,  253 
Vulture,  Alpine,  234 

Water,  32  ;  dust  in,  22 ;  -gas,  18 ; 
gold  in  sea,  309  ;  minerals  dis- 
solved by,  32,  57 — 62  ;  sea-,  124  ; 
silver  in,  309 

Waves,  40,  82 

Weevil,  203 

Wellington,  39 

Whale,  42 

Wheat,  98 

White  ants,  195  ;  coal,  188 

Willow,  98 

Wood,  172 ;  borers,  198,  200,  202, 
204 ;  peckers,  205 

Worms,  101,  205 

Yeast-plant,  176 
Yellowstone  Park,  88—9 

Zante,  191 

Zealand,  Xew,  in,  175,  193 

Zinc,  30 


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